Qualla: Three Days Inside Mako Brimob

Three Days Inside Mako Brimob: Introduction

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

It began with a complaint about food. On the evening of May 8, 2018, an inmate at the Mobile Brigade Corps headquarters in Depok, West Java, grew agitated that a meal brought by a family member had not arrived on time. What followed was not a spontaneous outburst but an orchestrated attack. An Islamic State leader among the prisoners, known as Wawan, seized the moment, calling the warden a dog and inciting his fellow inmates to violence. Within an hour, convicted terrorists had broken out of their holding block, overpowered 13 officers in the investigation building, and taken the compound's security apparatus apart from the inside. Five of those officers would not survive the night.

Three Days Inside Mako Brimob: The First Hours

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

By 8:20 p.m., the inmates had breached the holding blocks and swarmed the investigation building. Of the thirteen officers inside, seven fought their way out with injuries. Six were captured. Five were killed. The sixth, a policeman named Iwan, was held as a hostage -- a bargaini...

Three Days Inside Mako Brimob: The Negotiation

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The standoff that unfolded over the next two days revolved around a single demand. The inmates wanted to speak with Aman Abdurrahman, the most influential Islamic State-aligned cleric in Indonesia, who was himself imprisoned at the facility. Their representative, Abu Umar, first ...

Three Days Inside Mako Brimob: Surrender at Dawn

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The early hours of May 10 brought the standoff to its conclusion. At 1:30 a.m., police warned they would attack within a short period of time. At 2:40 a.m., the inmates' representative requested another meeting to convey their intention to surrender. By 5:30 a.m., they were discu...

Three Days Inside Mako Brimob: The Aftermath

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The violence did not end with the surrender. Hours later, a suspected Islamic militant approached the Mako Brimob headquarters and fatally stabbed a police officer who had stopped to question him. The assailant, carrying a concealed knife, was shot and killed. In total, six polic...

Three Days Inside Mako Brimob: A Compound in the Suburbs

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Mako Brimob sits in Depok, a satellite city on the southern edge of Jakarta's vast metropolitan sprawl. The Mobile Brigade Corps is the tactical unit of the Indonesian National Police, trained for crowd control, counterterrorism, and high-risk operations. Its headquarters doubles...