A senior police counter-terrorism officer has warned that Bali is still a preferred target among the country’s terrorist cells, with Indonesia’s homegrown terrorist network still trying to hit the resort island for a third time after deadly bombings in 2002 and 2005.
“This network has continuously tried to find a way to act. When they realized that several of their actions in other parts of the country produced lesser results and exposure than they expected, the terrorists began to look again at Bali as a preferred target,” Comr. Kurnia Wijaya said on the sidelines of a meeting on terrorism prevention in Denpasar.
Comr. Kurnia Wijaya heads the prevention unit of the police’s Densus 88 counter-terrorism unit. Densus 88 is responsible for the arrests of several most wanted terrorists as well as for disrupting terrorist cells and networks across the archipelago.
In March, the unit raided a budget hotel in Sanur and intercepted two motorists in west Denpasar. In the ensuing shootout, five suspected terrorists were killed. The police believed they were preparing attacks targeting several locations in Bali.
Comr. Kurnia Wijaya pointed out that the incident showed Bali was still high on the terrorists’ hit list.
He added police had also detected the presence of a terrorist network on the island that kept moving from one place to another. The network left and entered the island frequently to escape police attention.
Source: The Jakarta Post | Author: Muliarta | Photo: AP
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