New wave of militants in Bali biding their time
Radicals estimate 200 in Solo prepared to take on suicide missions
Purchase this article for republication
Buy SPH photos-
A foreign tourist on Wednesday placing flowers on the plaque of a memorial monument for the 2002 Bali bombing victims built next to the site of the blasts. PHOTOS: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
-
Police and onlookers viewing the site of the bomb blasts in the tourist area of Kuta in Bali in October 2002. -- PHOTO: AFP
A foreign tourist on Wednesday placing flowers on the plaque of a memorial monument for the 2002 Bali bombing victims built next to the site of the blasts. PHOTOS: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Police and onlookers viewing the site of the bomb blasts in the tourist area of Kuta in Bali in October 2002. -- PHOTO: AFP
SOLO (Central Java) - Even as Indonesia stepped up security throughout the archipelago in the decade since the Bali blasts, a new wave of militants is regrouping in the teeming city of Solo and biding its time.
Radicals in Solo estimate that as many as 200 of them are prepared to take on suicide missions and up to 3,000 others consider themselves part of an army to fight in the name of religion. Their estimates underscore the continuing threat of terrorist attacks.
"There are about 200 pengantins (slang for suicide bombers) and about 3,000 ready... to fight... all based in and around Solo, doing small-time business while waiting to act," said Rudy (not his real name), 33, an odd-job worker who has fought in sectarian conflicts in Ambon and Poso, Central Sulawesi.
Analysts say there is no way of telling if this estimate is accurate.
