R

ooting out and ending terrorism is a continuous task, as the latest attacks, on Thursday morning, showed. After 15 years of living with the threat of terrorism, it may be of little consolation to residents that security forces gunned down five suspected perpetrators, after shootings and blasts killed at least two people. The National Police said 24 were injured including five police personnel, four foreign nationals and 15 Indonesian civilians.

At least for the meantime, the situation is under control, as Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan announced. Hundreds of lives may have been saved; Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian said six other explosive devices had also been found in the vicinity. Luhut, meanwhile, said minimum market reaction showed trust in the professionalism of the security forces, and hoped closed businesses, particularly Starbucks, would reopen. One customer reportedly sustained injuries from an explosion outside the café across from the Sarinah Department Store.

President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo cut short a visit to West Java and appealed to people not to cower before terrorists. '€œThe state, nation and people should not be afraid of, or bow down to, such terror acts,'€ he said. However, people do have reason to remain fearful for friends and family, given the antiterror operations since the year 2000, when terrorists targeted Christmas Eve mass-goers. In the immediate aftermath on Thursday, residents reminded one another to remain wary, but also to refrain from spreading unverified reports.

The recent Christmas and New Year celebrations only showed us again that major events are not the only times we need to be on alert. Recent raids managed to net a number of suspects, but operations in Poso, Central Sulawesi, have yet to bring in main suspect Santoso, believed to be responsible for attacks in Poso and other areas.

Tito said early analysis of those behind Thursday'€™s attacks point to local affiliates of the Islamic State (IS) movement. Seemingly coordinated attacks on the heels of multiple attacks in Paris are alarming, though not surprising. Terrorist acts here have long shown considerable sophistication regarding targets and methods.

The scale of the attack on Jl. MH Thamrin, a main thoroughfare, while miniscule compared to Paris, was enough to show off the terrorists'€™ capacity for an assault on an area that serves as a center for business, houses the country'€™s UN headquarters and lies near the State Palace '€” just over six months into former counterterrorism officer Tito'€™s leadership of the Jakarta Police.

The bulk of the work of rooting out terrorism, however, does not rely on security operations. Many more need to speak out against narrow loyalties across sectarian lines '€” sentiments that provide fertile recruiting ground for those seeking a fast path to earthly or heavenly rewards. Apart from Jokowi, local leaders, including police chiefs, cannot be lenient to groups that condemn others for not following their own interpretation of religion.

Many countries have voiced solidarity with us in light of the attacks, but we need more concerted efforts among ourselves to end such cowardly crimes of terror.