Wednesday marks the 20th anniversary of the deadly terrorist bombings that occurred on the Indonesian island of Bali in 2002.

Indonesian police officials are bracing for more terrorist actions.

On October 12, 2002, members of the Jemaah Islamiah militant group detonated bombs in a busy nightclub district. The explosions killed 202 people. Most of them were foreign tourists.

The Indonesian police arrested three of the main culprits. They were executed in 2008. In 2020, the police also arrested a senior member of the group. He had been on a wanted list for a long time.

The group is believed to be affiliated with the international terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. It has repeatedly perpetrated terrorist attacks in Indonesia, and foreign nationals have been the targets. The group carried out another bombing in Bali in 2005.

The government set up a special forces unit inside the police as part of counterterrorism efforts. The efforts have been successful to a certain extent. A total of 370 people were arrested on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks last year alone.

Boy Rafli Amar is the national counterterrorism agency chief. He told NHK in an interview that the threat of terrorism will never disappear. The chief warned that terrorists will never remain as they are. He said they are always searching for new ways to spread their influence.