Panic, death as terrorists strike Bali once again
Suicide bombers in popular eateries kill at least 25, three years after deadlier attack
BALI— Suicide bombers targeted Indonesia’s Bali resort for the second time in three years with co- ordinated attacks yesterday that devastated seafood and noodle restaurants packed with foreigners, killing at least 25 people and wounding at least 100.
Maj. Gen. Ansyaad Mbai, a top anti- terrorism official, said the three attackers went into the restaurants wearing explosive vests. Their remains were found, he said.
“ I have seen them. All that is left is their head and feet,” he said. “ By the evidence, we can conclude the bombers were carrying the explosives around the waists.’’ Mbai said two Malaysian fugitives are suspected of masterminding the strikes, Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top. Both men have been on Indonesia’s most wanted list since the Oct. 12, 2002, attacks on two Bali nightclubs that killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. The blasts came a month after Indonesia’s president warned of possible terrorist attacks. No one claimed responsibility for the latest bombings in the world’s most populous Muslim nation, but suspicion fell immediately on Al Qaeda- linked Jemaah Islamiyah, blamed for the 2002 attacks in Bali and other deadly attacks in Jakarta.
Its alleged spiritual leader, Abu Bakar Bashir — jailed for conspiracy in the 2002 attacks — today denied any personal connection to the new bombings.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned more attacks were possible. “We will hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice,” he said. Two Australians and a Japanese citizen were killed, along with 12 Indonesians. Hospital officials were trying to identify 10 other corpses in the morgue, according to a statement by Sanglah Hospital, near Bali’s capital of Denpasar.
Three Canadians were in one of the restaurants and suffered minor injuries, said Dan McTeague, the parliamentary secretary for Canadians abroad. They were treated at a clinic and released. There are 122 Canadians known to be in Bali, McTeague told the Toronto Star’s Jered Stuffco last night. Canada, the United States, Britain, Australia and U. N. Secretary General Kofi Annan all condemned the attacks.
Police confirmed there were three, near- simultaneous blasts at restaurants packed with evening diners, two at outdoor seafood eateries on Jimbaran Beach and one at a steak bar at Kuta Beach in an area surrounded by shops and jammed with pedestrians, including children. The bomb in Kuta apparently went off on the restaurant’s secfight ond floor. There was no crater outside, indicating the blast was not caused by a car bomb.
Ketut Suartana, 33, said he was eating at Jimbaran when the first bomb exploded. The second came just minutes later.
“ We were eating and suddenly it just went dark. I tried to run but I kept falling over. Then the second blast happened,” said Suartana, 33, lying on a hospital bed with scratch marks over his face and chest.
“ People were in panic. I just tried to save myself.”
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew said in a statement there are no known Canadian fatalities. “ While the details are still unfolding, this is clearly an act directed against innocent civilians. The perpetrators must be found and brought to justice.
“ Canada condemns all acts of terrorism and is committed to working with Indonesia in the against international terrorism,” Pettigrew said.
U. S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice condemned the bombings, stating: “ The United States stands with the people and government of Indonesia as they work to bring to justice those responsible for these acts of terrorism.”
British Prime Minister Tony Blair called the attacks “ appalling” and said terrorism had to be fought head on. A spokesperson for Annan stated: “ The Secretary- General . . . is dismayed that Bali has yet again been the scene of terrorist outrage.”
Inside the badly damaged Raja restaurant and bar in Kuta Beach, a popular eatery, blood was spattered on the floor. Shattered glass from other shops and cafes littered the street. Wounded Indonesians sat on the pavement, some weeping, while foreigners fled the scene in panic. Metro TV footage showed some clambering over mangled multi- storey shop and restaurant fronts.
Bystanders gave first aid to many of the wounded.
Australian Jason Childs was also having dinner at Jimbaran.
“ We helped a few victims on the sand there on the beach and there were a few people lying . . . on the tables which are out on the beach, dead,” Childs told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, according to its website.
Officials at Sanglah Hospital said 101 people were being treated at six hospitals and the wounded included 49 Indonesians, 17 Australians, six Koreans, three Japanese and two Americans.
In the emergency unit, some victims screamed as they were treated. Many were wounded with scratches on their faces. Dozens of volunteers brought in the injured on stretchers.
Western and Indonesian intelligence agencies have warned repeatedly that Jemaah Islamiyah was plotting more attacks despite a string of arrests.
“ I received information at the time that terrorists were planning an action in Jakarta and that explosives were ready,” Yudhoyono said yesterday. The 2002 nightclub blasts killed people from 22 countries, including 88 Australians and seven Americans. With files from Reuters