SINGAPORE — Singapore said on Thursday (Oct 10) it condemns the "senseless terrorist attack" on Indonesia's chief security minister Wiranto, who was stabbed during his visit to a town on the island of Java.

"Singapore condemns the senseless terrorist attack on Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto in Banten, Indonesia today," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press statement.

"We wish Coordinating Minister Wiranto and the others who were injured a swift and complete recovery," it added.

Wiranto, a former military general, had just stepped out of his car and was being welcomed by the police chief in Pandeglang town when an attacker dashed toward them and stabbed the minister.

Bodyguards wrestled the attacker to the ground and tied his hands behind his back while others helped Wiranto, who stumbled to the ground.

Wiranto, 72 — who police have said was one of several targets in an earlier failed assassination plot — was rushed by helicopter to Jakarta, where he was treated for two knife wounds in his stomach.

The police chief and two aides also suffered knife wounds but authorities said they had no life-threatening injuries.

As coordinating minister for politics, legal, and security affairs, Wiranto supervises several ministries and agencies, including the national police and defence, which have been in charge of the government's counterinsurgency campaign.

Police identified the suspect as 31-year-old Syahril Alamsyah and said they also arrested his wife, Fitri Andriana, 21.

They were members of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), an extremist group responsible for deadly suicide bombings at churches in Indonesia's second-biggest city Surabaya last year, State Intelligence Agency chief Budi Gunawan told reporters in Jakarta.

JAD is among dozens of radical groups that have pledged loyalty to the Islamic State group in Indonesia. CNA

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