Police to guard over 640 churches at Christmas time
Police to guard over 640 churches at Christmas time
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
As they have for the past three years, police will provide
additional security for the 647 churches and Christian places of
worship across Greater Jakarta during the Christmas and New
Year's holidays.
Jakarta Police chief of operations Sr. Comr. Komang Udayana
said the police would deploy some 18,000 of its 24,000 officers
to provide security during Christmas and New Year's services.
"We have identified 647 churches used for Christmas and New
Year's services. We will deploy our officers a week before
Christmas until several days after the New Year," he told The
Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Komang said the number of officers deployed at each of the
churches and places of worship would depend on the size of the
congregations and the churches' own security arrangements.
Police have identified 96 churches in Central Jakarta, 108
churches in West Jakarta, 81 in East Jakarta, 104 in South
Jakarta, 34 in North Jakarta, 55 in Tangerang, 76 in Bekasi and
93 in Depok.
The head of general crimes at the Jakarta Police, Sr. Comr.
Moh. Jaelani, said all units, including the intelligence
division, the detectives unit, the bomb squad and the mobile
brigade, would be involved in the security operation.
"We will not relax our security measures until after the New
Year. Even though Malaysian bombmaker Azahari bin Husin was
killed recently, his accomplice Noordin M. Top still has many
recruits who could launch attacks anywhere in Indonesia,
especially Jakarta, during the year-end celebrations," he told
the Post.
Azahari and Noordin M. Top are suspected of masterminding
several major attacks on western targets in Indonesia, including
the 2002 Bali blasts that killed 202 people, mostly foreign
tourists. They are also believed to have played a role in the
Oct. 1 Bali bombings that killed 23 people, including the three
suicide bombers.
Suspected members of the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah
bombed 11 churches across the country on Christmas Eve in 2000,
killing 19 people.
The police killed Azahari during a raid in Batu, West Java,
last month but are still searching for Noordin after he managed
to evade arrest during a separate raid.
A document found during the raid on Noordin's hideout
indicated terrorists were planning attacks on several locations
in Jakarta.
Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani stressed that
special antiterror task force Detachment 88 had information that
terrorists were targeting the capital.
National Intelligence Agency head Syamsir Siregar warned on
Wednesday there were indications terrorists were planning attacks
over the Christmas and New Year's holidays in large cities across
the country, including Jakarta.