Indonesian police and the military launched a series of anti-terror exercises yesterday, a week ahead of a visit to the country by US President Barack Obama.
The exercises were expected to be held in several places, including the capital’s main international airport, the stock market building, upmarket hotels and an area of sea north of Jakarta.
“We hope that these exercises can make both the military and police more professional in handling cases related to terrorism,” Indonesian military spokesman Sagom Tamboen said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Tamboen said the timing of the exercises, about a week before Obama’s visit to the world’s most populous Muslim majority country, was a “coincidence.”
Obama, who was invited by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, lived in Jakarta as a boy between 1967 and 1971.
He is scheduled to leave the US on March 21 for the trip, which also includes stops in Guam and Australia.
Late last month, Indonesian police began a series of raids on militant suspects in remote Aceh Province. In the latest raids on Friday, two terror suspects were shot dead and eight arrested.
A senior leader of the Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, Dulmatin, was gunned down by police on the outskirts of Jakarta on Tuesday.
Dulmatin, who was accused of masterminding the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, was buried on Friday morning.
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