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Security
officials inspect the scene of an explosion at a restaurant in
Kuta. (Reuters)
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JIMBARAN,
Indonesia, October 1, 2005 (IslamOnline.net News Agencies) –
At least 25 people, including several foreign tourists, were killed
Saturday, October 1, in a series of near-simultaneous
"terrorist" bomb blasts that ripped through popular tourist
spots on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Police
said two explosions struck seafood restaurants 100 meters (yards)
apart in the beachside area of Jimbaran during the evening meal, reported Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
Minutes
later at least one blast hit a restaurant in
Matahari Square
in Kuta, a popular late-night shopping area, according to witnesses.
Shattered
glass littered bloodied streets around the
Matahari Square
shopping center which had been packed with hundreds of people when the
blast went off.
An
eyewitness who arrived at the scene in Jimbaran minutes after the
explosion said he saw at least eight bodies, including four
foreigners.
Television
images from Sanglah hospital in the
Bali
capital Denpasar showed several foreign tourists, wearing nothing but
shorts, being treated for injuries.
The
attacks, which came during the peak tourist season, fell just 11 days
before the third anniversary of the bomb attacks on two nightclubs in
Kuta which left 202 people dead, including many Australians.
Three
people have been sentenced to death for their part in the
Bali
bombings and two others are serving life sentences for the attacks,
blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah group.
The
2002 bombings were condemned by leading Muslim scholars, including
Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi who branded the attacks as “heinous”
crime.
Terrorist
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"This
is clearly a terrorist act ... We will catch the perpetrators and
punish them," Yudhoyono told an impromptu news conference.
(Reuters)
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Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono strongly condemned the Saturday's
bombings.
"This
is clearly a terrorist act ... We will catch the perpetrators and
punish them," Yudhoyono told an impromptu news conference in
Jakarta
, adding he would go to
Bali
on Sunday.
The
Indonesian leader, however, said it was too soon to blame anyone for
the attacks.
Yudhoyono
had called in late August for tighter security in the world's most
populous Muslim nation during September and October, saying these
appeared to be favored months for terrorist acts.
He
said the possibility of more attacks remained real since two of the
key bombers accused of being behind the 2002 Bali attacks, Malaysians
Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohammad Top, remain at large.
Bali,
960 km (595 miles) east of
Jakarta
, is
Indonesia
's most popular destination for foreign tourists.
While
the number of foreign tourists dropped sharply after the attacks three
years ago, the island's key industry has since recovered.
According
to Reuters, the predominantly Hindu island is home to 3 million people
and is famous for its beautiful beaches, rich culture and picture
postcard landscapes of rice fields and volcanoes.
Fingering
JI
Although
no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks,
Australia
rushed to point the finger at Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).
"You
can assume it's an attack by an organization like Jemaah Islamiyah,
just speaking from experience, but of course at this stage no one has
claimed responsibility for the attack and we have no evidence as to
who has been responsible for it," Australian Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer said.
He
confirmed at least one Australian was killed in the explosions.
Australia
had warned its citizens against traveling to
Bali
, saying more attacks were possible.
A
travel advice by the government updated last month warned it was
continuing "to receive a stream of credible reporting suggesting
that terrorists are in the advanced stages of planning attacks against
Western interests in
Indonesia
."
Urging
Australians to defer non-essential travel to the country, the
government said attacks "could occur at any time".
Rohan
Gunaratna, head of terrorism research at
Singapore
's
Institute
of
Defense
and Strategic Studies, also said the attacks carry the hallmarks of
the JI.
"The
only group that has the intention and capability to mount a
coordinated and simultaneous attack against a western target in
Indonesia
is Jemaah Islamiyah," he told AFP by telephone.
He
said the Indonesian government should now declare the JI a criminal or
terrorist group. The JI has not been formally declared an illegal
organization in
Indonesia
.
Many
Muslim leaders in South East Asia strongly denying
the existence of the JI, saying it is only part of a plot by
the US and its allies to undermine Islam and the Muslims in this
region.
