Three Indonesian policemen stabbed by Daesh-linked extremist

An alleged supporter of the Daesh terrorist organisation was killed in Indonesia after he stabbed three policemen in Tangerang, on the outskirts of the country's capital Jakarta, police said on Thursday.

Indonesia is home to the world's largest Muslim population, and authorities are increasingly concerned about a possible growth of radicalism driven by a new generation of extremists inspired by Daesh.

Police said that the 22-year-old attacker also threw a pipe bomb which failed to explode, before being shot and later dying from his wounds.

The policemen injured in the incident were being treated in hospital.

A large Daesh sticker and a second pipe bomb were found at the scene, police said.

"We suspect the perpetrator is a Daesh sympathiser," national police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said.

The attacker was allegedly linked to the Indonesian militant group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), which is linked to Daesh.

JAD, led by jailed cleric Aman Abdurrahman, was formed last year when a number of pro-Daesh groups merged.

Thursday's incident is the latest in a series of Daesh-linked attacks which began in January, when four militants carried out a bombing in downtown Jakarta that killed four people.

In July another extremist blew himself up at a police station, injuring a policeman, while in August a knife-wielding teenager attempted to stab a priest in a church.

The same month, police arrested suspected Daesh supporters for allegedly planning to launch a rocket at a Singapore casino resort using a boat from the Indonesian island of Batam.