Ansyaad said terrorists who had been arrested earlier still did not have adequate capabilities then but "they have now even become cell leaders. Meanwhile bomb making is a skill anyone can learn."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Chief of the Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT), Ansyaad Mbai, said there were a number of suspected terrorists of the same caliber as Umar Patek who were still at large.
"There are still dozens of them in Indonesia," he said after signing a cooperation agreement on de-radicalization with an Islamic institution here on Thursday.
Ansyaad said terrorists who had been arrested earlier still did not have adequate capabilities then but "they have now even become cell leaders. Meanwhile bomb making is a skill anyone can learn."
"Their ideology is still the same. The BNPT does not worry about possible reprisals from them following Umar Patek`s arrest. Because even if we do nothing they will still take revenge. So we had better do something rather than do nothing," he said.
Umar Patek arrived here on Thursday after being arrested in Pakistan in March.
Born in Pemalang, Central Java, he had been wanted so far in connection with his involvement in the Bali bombings in 2002 and in the bombings of several churches.
Ansyaad declined to comment about other terrorist suspects his agency is targeting.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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