Security Minister Wiranto Stabbed by Islamic State Sympathizer

Wiranto was later rushed by helicopter to the capital Jakarta.

Two members of a terror network linked with Daesh (the so-called IS) stabbed Indonesia's chief security minister Wiranto on Thursday, the intelligence head said, as the powerful politician underwent emergency surgery for his wounds.

The minister had been in the area to open a new building at a university and people were lining up to shake his hand and take selfies with him before the attack around noon, said Tohir.

Television footage showed security officers restraining a man and a woman after the attack on the minister, 72, in Pandeglang, Banten province, on the island of Java. The former general suffered two deep wounds to his stomach and had to be airlifted to hospital in Jakarta.

Police have arrested a man and a woman, and are trying to determine their motive.

Wiranto is wounded in the abdomen, and the minister is now undergoing treatments at a hospital in Pandeglang.

"We are still seeking confirmation but from the photos that we have seen the local police chief was stabbed, stabbed in the back", National Police spokesperson Brig.

Police did not say if either suspect belonged to one of dozens of radical groups that have pledged loyalty to the Islamic State group in Indonesia, which has long struggled with Islamist militancy.

The stabbing comes just over a week before President Joko Widodo begins a second term, after winning re-election in April.

Many past attacks by Indonesian militants have been against police and other state symbols. The group has been blamed for past bomb attacks in Indonesia.

Wiranto was attacked when visiting the Mathla'ul Anwar Islamic Boarding School in Labuan, Banten, today.

The retired chief of the armed forces and a failed presidential candidate, Wiranto has faced controversy over alleged human rights violations and crimes against humanity linked to violence following East Timor's 1999 independence referendum.

Wiranto ran unsuccessfully for president in 2004 and for vice president in 2009.