Irawaty Wardany and Dicky Christanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 03/14/2010 9:28 AM
Indonesian Police and military forces held joint counterterror exercises at six locations on Saturday, with the aim of reassuring the public that national security was being tightly controlled.
The simulations took place at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) building on Jl. Sudirman, South Jakarta, Hotel Borobudur on Jl. Lapangan Banteng, Central Jakarta, off Tanjung Priok Harbor in North Jakarta, Mercure Hotel Ancol in North Jakarta, Thousand Islands oil rig and Soekartno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Tangerang.
Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Djoko Santoso said the exercises were necessary to better prepare counterterrorism forces, especially in improving professionalism. He denied that the simulations were conducted in preparation for the visit of US President Barrack Obama on March 21.
“This is just a regular program,” he said at the simulation at Hotel Borobudur, which was also witnessed by National Police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri. Similar exercises were last held in December 2008.
The exercise at the BEI building began at 10 a.m. with officers simulating a scenario where 12 terrorists using three cars break into the 31-story building and take hostages on the ground floor, demanding the release of fellow terrorists being held by the police.
In the simulation, negotiators failed to persuade them to surrender and security forces deployed counterterrorism troops and police who stormed the lobby with armored vehicles, subduing the terrorists after a shootout lasting a few minutes that resulted in five terrorist casualties.
South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Gatot Edy Pramono, who played the role of field manager at the BEI building simulation, said police and military deployed 468 officers to participate in the exercise.
“The force was made up of various units including intelligence, counterterrorism and even traffic squads,” he said.
Onlookers said they expected such exercises would deter terrorists. Office worker Edna said the simulation was a good indicator of the skills of the counterterrorism forces.
“They should have had the public participate to give it more realism,” she said while praising the team for its coordination.
ZH Yanto, a security guard posted at the entrance to the Sudirman Central Business District, said many drivers and cyclists complained to him because they were not allowed to pass through the area during the exercise.
“It is better if the public were informed in advance that traffic would be rerouted for the simulation so they are not caught out like today.”
Terrorism analyst Dynno Chressbon said such exercises would significantly affect the way counterterrorism forces handled terrorist threats, especially considering that the police and military previously had different approaches.
Analysts have criticized the government’s extreme approach against terror suspects following the deaths of a number of terror suspects in their raids.
Democratic and Social Justice Studies (CedSos) secretary-general Umar Abduh said it was important for the police to capture the terror suspects alive to avoid revenge attacks.
“We want to know who ordered the police to kill these suspected militants in the raids,” he told a discussion in Jakarta. Umar Abduh is a former member of the Jamaah Imron terrorist group.
The police said it had arrested 452 suspected terrorists since the 2002 Bali bombings, and released almost half of them since 2005. The government, however, has not set up an integrated institution tasked with helping former convicts readapt to society.
This gap is filled by foundations led by former militants and intelligence officers, such as the Prasasti Perdamaian Foundation founded by journalist-turned-consultant Noor Huda Ismail, which now shelters
10 former terrorists.
