[12] Later on, opposition arose from human rights groups due to the involvement of the Indonesian National Armed Forces in the bill, which would put them in a law enforcement role.

[13] Regardless, the bill continued to press on, although it was put on hold in late February 2018 as both the military involvement and the legal definition of terrorism came into debate.

While the incident and hostage situation ended with the 155 rioters surrendering,[15] in the aftermath, police shot dead four individuals who were suspected terrorists allegedly travelling "to help the rioting prisoners".

[34] According to the regional police chief Inspector General Machfud Arifin, the victims might have been planning to conduct attacks similar to the ones perpetrated at the churches, but the devices exploded prematurely.

[5] Among them were children aged 11 and 8, identified as Evan and Nathan, and two security officers who were trying to stop the perpetrators from entering the churches.

He later added that the weak anti-terror law in Indonesia allowed local extremists to travel to Iraq and Syria with ease, and that those who might have been involved with the Islamic State wouldn't be punished by the authorities.

[51] Indonesian National Police revealed that the attacks were directly ordered by ISIL as revenge for the imprisonment of Aman Abdurrahman, the leader of JAD and JAT in Indonesia.

[63] On 15 May, two days after the initial bombings, a shootout occurred between Detachment 88 personnel and a group suspected to be affiliated with the bombers in the Manukan Kulon kelurahan (administrative village) in Surabaya.

[84] Police officers were deployed to the crime scenes to investigate and safeguard the areas, including members of Mobile Brigade Corps (Brimob) and the bomb squad.

In response to the emergency, Indonesian Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi ordered security in every airport and seaport in Indonesia to be heightened to its maximum level.

[90][91] The church bombers were identified by the police as a family of six, headed by Dita Supriyanto, the father; and Puji Kuswati, the mother.

[53] The East Java Regional Police identified the victims of the fourth bombing as members of a terrorist group that were planning to execute additional terror attacks on churches.

The organization general chairman Yaqut Cholil Qoumas urged law enforcement officers to tackle the threat of radicalization in social media.

[113] Expressing condolences for the victims, he stated that the bombings were "a crime against humanity, unrelated with any religion", adding that he had ordered police chief Tito Karnavian to "unravel the bombers' network to its roots".

[116] The Indonesian Ministry of Health confirmed President's statement that all hospital bills of the victims of the attacks will be paid by the government.

[117] Former Indonesian National Armed Forces commander Gatot Nurmantyo also denounced the attacks, stating that the perpetrators were trying to stain the image of Islam.

[118] One of the most controversial religious figures in Indonesia, Bachtiar Nasir, a prominent member of the GNPF who had pushed for the imprisonment of the Christian–Chinese Governor of Jakarta Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, also condemned the attacks.

Masinton Pasaribu, a representative from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI–P), stated that the attacks were an inhuman action and an extraordinary crime and the perpetrators should be severely punished.

Spokesman from Golkar, the second largest party in Indonesia, stated that the attacks were nothing but a cowardice act from several irresponsible people who stained their own religion.

[125] In response to the bombings, Chief Tito called for a revision to the anti-terror bill and urged the members of the Indonesian House of Representatives to do so.

[132] The Government of Hong Kong issued similar travel advice, stating that "Residents intending to visit the country or are already there should monitor the situation, exercise caution, attend to personal safety and avoid protests and large gatherings of people.

"[133] The Irish, Canadian, French, Malaysian, Polish, Singaporean, Filipino and Chinese governments also issued travel advice for their citizens.

[134][135] Singaporean President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong wrote condolences letters to Indonesia, stating that the Government of Singapore strongly condemned the attacks.

[140] During a sermon at Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City, Pope Francis mentioned the attacks and requested prayers.

[141] United Nations and Organization for Islamic Cooperation secretaries-general António Guterres and Yousef Al-Othaimeen both also released statements condemning the attacks.

A woman was arrested on 14 May 2018 in Sukadana, West Kalimantan for her viral Facebook post accusing the government of having conducted the bombings as a false flag.

[152] On the same day, a representative of a group named 212 Guard (Garda 212) also said that the bombings were false flag made to suppress those who were against the sitting government and demanding new president.

[156] Many politicians, Mahfud MD for instance, condemned those who supported the false flag theory, stating that those people are psychopathic and basically are no different from the terrorists.

Police stated that these hate crimes couldn't be tolerated, later added that even one of the relatives of the victims of the attacks was a niqab wearing woman.

The attack started when a white Toyota Avanza rammed into the police station and struck people and vehicles, including two journalists from tvOne and MNCTV.