December 8, 2024 19:03 PM

Stricter Airport Security Implemented in Indonesia

In response to recent terrorist attacks, airports in Indonesia will have greater presence of the police, sniffer dogs, and army personnel. The alert level was raised from green to yellow last week.

A yellow status means that airports need to follow the Airport Security Programme, which includes making random checks on vehicles coming into the airport, sniffer dogs checking cargo and luggage, as well as tightened screening of workers.

"The aviation security increase is due to Paris incident," said Transport Ministry Aviation Director General Suprasetyo, reported by Indonesian website Detik.com

The Director General also told reporters the ministry had information of a "threat to security".

He did not clarify which threat he was referring to, however, there were bomb threats made recently where some flights had to be diverted.

Just last month, a Russian plane went down in Egypt, killing all 224 people on board, with Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claiming responsibility.

Just recently, a Turkish Airlines plane, and two Air France plane - all from the United States - we diverted due to bomb scares, but no explosives were found on the flights.

Santoso, Indonesia's most wanted terrorist leader was also claimed to be in a video circulating online just last week. In the video were black Islamic flags threatening the Jakarta police.

Airports around the world are also on tighter security after the recent terrorist attacks in Paris last November 13 which killed more than 130 people.

A 10-point memo was sent to all airports with instructions including random vehicle checks, more sniffer dog patrols of cargo and baggage and co-operation with army, police and intelligence officers, Yahoo News reports.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, suffered several major bomb attacks conducted by Islamic radicals between 2000 and 2009, but a crackdown has weakened the most dangerous extremist networks.

Tags
Security, Asia
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