Facing down terrorists

epa05106266 Indonesia residents hold banners reading Pray for Jakarta as they gather at the site of the 14 January terrorist attacks in Jakarta, Indonesia, 17 January 2016. Hundreds of residents have been visiting the scene, mostly coming to mourn or to take pictures. At least seven people, including five suspected attackers, died in bomb blasts and gunfire in the center of the Indonesian capital Jakarta, police said, in what the countrys president described as an act of terrorism. The assailants struck outside a Starbucks cafe and a police post near the well-known Sarinah shopping complex. Indonesia has faced problems in recent years with extremist violence, often linked to Islamist groups, and it is estimated that hundreds of Indonesians have joined the Islamic State group in the Middle East. EPA/BAGUS INDAHONO

THE multiple bombing attacks in Jakarta by terrorists reportedly linked to the Islamic State show that when militants want to strike, they can do so at any time. All that the authorities can do is take maximum precaution by tracking their movements and monitoring their Internet chatter to nip in the bud their plots before they strike. I believe all police forces in the region are doing this quite well but there is no guarantee that a terrorist strike, like the one in Jakarta, will not happen in other cities.

The most effective response to a terrorist attack is citizen unity to demonstrate the will of the people to reject any form of extremism, including religious inspired terrorism. At the same time, the Government must empower citizen activism by practising open democracy and allowing freedom of expression so that the majority voice of reason and moderation will drown out the minority extremists and their hopes for a religious uprising against their enemies.