After the suicide bomb attack in Manchester (United Kingdom) and the firefight between Philippine military forces and local Islamic State (IS)-inspired Maute fighters in Mindanao earlier this week, Indonesia also became the center of a new radical Islamic attack when - on Wednesday evening (24/05) - two suicide bombers struck at the Kampung Melayu bus station in East Jakarta, killing three police officers and injuring about a dozen others. Including the two terrorist, it led to five casualties. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.

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Indonesia's special counter-terrorism force Densus 88 killed three alleged terrorists in a shooting just outside the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta on Wednesday morning (21/12). Meanwhile, Densus 88 arrested another man and discovered a cache of bombs, presumably intended to be used for suicide bombings during Christmas celebrations. The shooting - and discovery of the bombs - took place at two rented houses at a housing complex in South Tangerang (Banten Province) some 25 kilometers outside Jakarta.

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Indonesia's counter-terrorism squad Densus 88 allegedly prevented a terrorist attack aimed at "vital locations in Central Jakarta" (possibly including the State Palace) on this week's car free Sunday (11/12). On Saturday (10/12) Densus 88 arrested four people, including one woman who, allegedly, was to detonate the suicide bomb. Densus 88 are still looking for two more suspects. Authorities are concerned that in Muslim-majority Indonesia there is an increasing amount of small terrorist cells that are influenced by Islamic State (IS).

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Indonesian Police killed two Islamic militants during a shootout in a the jungle on Indonesia's Sulawesi island on Monday evening (18/07). Reportedly - but not confirmed yet by authorities - one of these militants is Indonesia's most wanted Islamic militant Abu "Santoso" Wardah, an Islamic State supporter and leader of the East Indonesia Mujahidin terrorist cells. This group's "headquarters" are believed to be located in the jungle surrounding Poso (Central Sulawesi).

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In the past few days, American and Australian authorities announced to detect a high degree of potential terrorist attacks in Indonesia, reportedly related to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) movement. ISIS is an outlawed movement in Indonesia but does have sympathizers in the world’s largest archipelago containing the world’s largest Muslim population (about 210 million Muslims). Last Saturday (03/01), the US embassy issued a security warning for US-associated hotels and banks in the city of Surabaya (East Java).

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Seven suspected terrorists have been shot dead and 20 more have been arrested by Densus 88, Indonesia’s anti-terrorism squad, on Wednesday (08/05/13) during raids in Kendal (Central Java), Sumedang (West Java), Bandung and Banten. The suspects are believed to be part of a terrorist network that imported weaponry from the Philippines and engaged in violent robberies on bank branches of Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) to fund various terrorist activities in Poso (Sulawesi).

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The total number of foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia in 2014 was 9.44 million, up 7.19 percent from the preceding year, meaning that the government target of welcoming 9.3 million foreign tourists last year was achieved. As usual, most foreign tourists entered Indonesia through the Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali, the most famous tourist destination in the world’s largest archipelago. During the whole year of 2014 a total of 3.71 million foreigners spent some time on Bali.

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Last Thursday night, a Nigerian drug dealer, imprisoned since 2004, was executed by firing squad near Kepulauan Seribu to the north of Jakarta's coast. This execution is the first since the execution of three Islamic radicals (who were involved in the 2002 Bali bombings) in 2008. Meanwhile, on Friday morning, counter-terrorism squad Densus 88 killed three suspected Muslim militants that robbed a jewelry store in Tambora, West Jakarta.

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