Of late, Indonesian authorities have seen evidence that terrorists are learning to use liquid explosives, according to Ansyaad Mbai, chief of the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT).
In September 2012, while searching the home of bombmaker Badri Hartono in Kelurahan Pajang, Solo, police found chemical bomb-making materials including nitroglycerin, Ansyaad told journalists in the Central Java city on June 26th.
In fact, in their crackdown on Badri and his cell, police came to the conclusion that Solo had become a centre for the manufacture of nitroglycerin bombs, he said.
"Yes, apparently so, this kind of bomb has been developed in Solo," he said. Moreover, many of Badri's followers have taken this new knowledge elsewhere.
"Badri's men have trained bombmakers in Poso" he said.
Nitroglycerin included in various attacks
Badri's is not the only terrorist network using nitroglycerin bombs.
When police arrested 11 members of the Sunni Movement for Indonesian Society (HASMI) in various parts of Java in October 2012, they also found the deadly liquid explosives. The group's leader, Abu Hanifah, was based in Solo. The network was targeting US diplomatic missions and a Jakarta building that houses offices of mining giant Freeport-McMoRan.
Police said the bombs they discovered at the time were far more high-powered than those used in the Bali bombings.
"This is a serious issue for the BNPT. The use of liquid explosives, nitroglycerin, it is very dangerous," said Ansyaad.
In May, moreover, Detachment 88 arrested two men who were experts in the use of liquid explosives – Slamet Pilih and Samidi – in Solo and Purwokerto Utara, also in Central Java.
Ansyaad said the trend may have spread among militants who trained in the remote training camps of Poso, Sulawesi.
"About 300 people trained in bomb-making in Poso," Ansyaad said. So far, the police have arrested about 100 of them. "There are still many who have not been caught," he said.
"Highly explosive material"
According to former Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leader Abdulrahman Ayub, who spoke at the same forum, only a few terrorist networks in Indonesia have the ability to make liquid bombs from nitroglycerin.
"Umar Patek and his group were best at it. It's a highly explosive material, very sensitive," Abdulrahman said.
Indonesians who went to Afghanistan to fight the former Soviet Union learned about this kind of explosive by studying weapons the Russians used, he said.
"Initially, when we were in Afghanistan, there were Russian mines in a butterfly shape. We defused them and took them apart, and inside was nitroglycerin. Umar Patek also learned from this experience," he added.
Abdulrahman confirmed Solo's role in the development of nitroglycerin bombs. He said the city has become a centre for liquid chemical bomb-making.
"But they haven't been able to make a safe triggering device, so they rarely use it in terrorist attacks," he added. "They just make it and store it."
Students are the targets
Solo and Sukoharjo have a high vulnerability to radicalisation, Najahan Musyafak, co-ordinator for the Forum for Combating Terrorism (FKPT) in Central Java, told Khabar Southeast Asia.
"The main targets for recruitment are young people who are in the process of searching and self-expression," he told Khabar during an awareness event to combat radicalism.
"That's why we aggressively provide various trainings as an effort to prevent recruitment for radical acts."
But much remains to be done, he said. The community must become more active in addressing the issue, in this era of rapid technological advancement and globalisation.
"Although the National Counterterrorism Agency has shut down 20 websites that contain terrorist and radical elements, that is not enough, unless it is complemented by positive efforts to influence youth," he said.
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