Indonesia police kill 4 sword-wielding assailants, capture another

Police in Indonesia have gunned down four of five men who attempted to attack officers with samurai swords after driving their car into the police headquarters on Sumatra Island.

The assailants entered the police station in Sumatra’s Riau on Wednesday, police spokesman Setyo Wasisto said.

“Four have been shot to death and one fled. The one who escaped has been captured and secured at the Pekanbaru police station,” Wasisto said.

One officer was killed after the escaping assailant hit him by the car while fleeing. A journalist was also hit by the car and was injured.

Earlier reports said that one of the assailants had a suspected bomb strapped to his body. Wasisto did not comment on those reports.

Indonesian television footage showed one man lying on the ground with a long sword next to his body and an armored car stationed outside the police station.

Police said they had not identified the perpetrators or determined a motive yet.

The recent incident follows several deadly attacks in the country’s second-largest city, Surabaya, earlier this week, which killed dozens of people.