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JAKARTA, Oct. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- The Indonesian Police has gone on top alert
after Saturday's Bali bombs, with provincial police chiefs across the country
tightening security in a bid to capture the Bali perpetrators and prevent
further attacks.
Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Aryanto Boedihardjo said National Police chief
Gen. Sutanto had instructed all provincial police chiefs to go on full alert.
Jakarta Police earlier increased their security status to full alert on
Sunday after the devastating blasts.
"It's up to each regional police chief to prepare their personnel to beef up
the security around the country," Aryanto was quoted Tuesday by The Jakarta
Post as saying.
He said the police were teaming up with immigration offices to prevent
suspected bombers from fleeing Indonesia.
Officials said the latest bombs show marked similarities to theearlier Bali
bombings in 2002, which killed 202 people and were blamed on Malaysian fugitives
Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Moh. Top. Both are believed to be members of the
Jamaah Islamiyah terror group.
"We can't be sure yet if the bombers are related to them (Azahari and
Noordin), but if we look at the pattern of how they always employ suicide
bombers to carry out their plan, I have to admit that they are similar," Aryanto
said.
However, police could still not be absolutely certain that the three
severed heads found at the bomb sites belonged to the bombers, he said.
"We need to confirm this with the forensics lab as we have found traces of
bomb materials in their corpses," Aryanto said.
He said police were also analyzing the bomb materials to verifyif they were
similar to the explosives used in previous blasts.
Aryanto said police had been doing their best to prevent bomb attacks in
the country after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued a warning of
possible attacks in September and October.
"We had tightened the security in closed buildings, such as hotels and
malls when the warning came out, but what can we do if the blast happens in open
areas like these did? These areas are very vulnerable to attacks," Aryanto said.
He urged restaurant owners and the public to take security measures to
anticipate similar incidents in the future.
"We certainly can't put a wall around those open
places. It will not be comfortable, especially for holidaymakers. That's why we
need everyone's help in this case, so that we can prevent more attacks in the
future," Aryanto said. Enditem |