Law enforcement in Bali wasted no time at all in responding to a suicide bombing at a busy bus terminal in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta that killed three policemen.
A number of raids in Bali have been conducted since late last night, to anticipate any other bomb threats, police say.
“We immediately responded and enhanced security,” Denpasar Police Chief Hadi Purnomo told Tribun Bali on Wednesday night.
In addition to conducting raids on cars and motorbikes, increased personnel have been added to guard police headquarters, along with intensified patrols.
Two suicide attackers detonated bombs in a street outside the Jakarta bus terminal late Wednesday, sending huge clouds of black smoke into the sky and panicked people fleeing.
In addition to the three killed police officers, the bombers died while five other police officers and five civilians were injured in the assault, which left body parts and glass strewn across the road outside the Kampung Melayu terminal in a working-class district.
Police believe they were targeted in the bombing as they provided security for a parade near the station, which is an area frequented by locals but not foreigners. Security forces have been the main target in recent years of Indonesian militants, who have largely turned their attention away from Westerners.
Authorities have not indicated who might be responsible but Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, has been on high alert after a string of plots in recent times by militants inspired by the Islamic State (IS) group.
Indonesia has long struggled with Islamic militancy and has suffered a series of attacks in the past 15 years, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.
with words from AFP
