Indonesia: 7,000 take part in massive anti-terror drill

Similar drills will be held on Bali, which has suffered two series of suicide bombings in 2002 and 2005 that killed more than 220 people.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
swat 88 (photo credit: )
swat 88
(photo credit: )
Indonesian security forces stormed airports, glitzy hotels, passenger ships and the Jakarta Stock Exchange building Sunday in a massive anti-terrorism drill in the world's most populous Muslim nation. About 7,000 police, soldiers and emergency-response workers were taking part in the exercise held in six major cities, including the capital, Jakarta, and on the popular resort island of Bali. Indonesia has been hit by a string of deadly suicide bombings targeting Westerners in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. However, experts say the risk of more large-scale attacks has diminished with the arrest of hundreds of suspects. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said, however, last month's militant rampage in the Indian city of Mumbai that left 164 dead highlighted the need to remain alert. Indonesian television broadcast live footage of black-clad counterterrorism forces dropping by helicopter onto the roof of the 5-star Borobudur Hotel before blasting through windows to release screaming hostages, leaving a trail of shattered glass. In another scenario at a local airport, mock-terrorists seized an airplane carrying the president, killing the pilot and dumping the body onto the tarmac. After a 90-minute standoff, security forces overpowered the ransom-demanding militants. Similar drills will be held on Bali, which has suffered two series of suicide bombings in 2002 and 2005 that killed more than 220 people, many of them foreign tourists. Security forces also will "storm" a ship in the Strait of Malacca, among the world's busiest shipping lanes, in a bid to free hundreds of passengers seized in another mock-raid, said national police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira. Members and associates of regional militant group Jemaah Islamiyah have been blamed for all of the recent suicide bombings in Indonesia, as well as a number of failed terrorism plots in Southeast Asia. The group had ties with al-Qaida and other foreign extremists before 2002, but most experts believe the links have since been broken. The last major attack in Indonesia occurred three years ago.