Image copyright Reuters Image caption Wiranto pictured last year
Indonesia's security minister has been stabbed by a man who police say was "inspired" by the Islamic State group.
Wiranto, who uses one name, was getting out of a car in a town square in Banten province when he was attacked.
The former military chief and ex-presidential candidate, 72, suffered "two deep wounds" to his stomach but is in a stable condition.
A police officer and two other people were injured, while two suspects, a man and a woman, were arrested.
The minister was taken by helicopter to hospital in Jakarta.
Police said the attacker had been exposed to "IS radicalism".
If confirmed as an IS-backed attack, it would be the first by the militants on a politician in Indonesia.
Image copyright AFP Image caption Indonesian police and military carry Wiranto on a stretcher to a helicopter
The stabbing comes just over a week before President Joko Widodo begins a second term, after winning re-election in April.
In May, at least six people were killed and 200 injured in Jakarta during mass rallies against the president.
In the same month, police said Wiranto and three other officials were the targets of a failed assassination plot.
Born the son of an impoverished teacher, Wiranto graduated from the national military academy in 1968 and rose to become head of the armed forces.
Image copyright AFP Image caption An Indonesian Navy helicopter takes off carrying Wiranto after he was stabbed in Pandeglang, Banten province
He was accused of being ultimately responsible for the deaths of more than 1,000 people in East Timor in 1999, when the province voted for independence.
Denying the allegation, he said: "Indonesian security forces had an extraordinary difficult mission - I call it Mission Impossible."
He was a presidential candidate in 2004 but came third.
Wiranto in January 2019 
Yesterday, Indonesia's   was stabbed, according to government authorities. Wiranto, who was visiting the town of  in the province of , survived the attack.

Wiranto suffered "two deep wounds" in the attack according to a hospital spokesperson. The local police chief and two others were also injured. Al Jazeera reported that Wiranto was flown to a hospital in Jakarta, and that his condition was stable.

Dedi Prasetyo, a spokesperson for the , confirmed that two suspects were arrested. He told the BBC that police suspect the attackers had been "exposed to radicalism". The BBC also cited Budi Gunawan, chief of the , as saying the suspects were linked to the  network, which itself was related to the Islamic State.

The attack came less than two weeks before Indonesian President 's second term inauguration. Widodo designated Wiranto, a former general, as the nation's security minister in 2016. Al Jazeera reported that Widodo was planning to visit Wiranto, who was being treated at the .




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