 The coordinated blasts in Bali that killed 25 people were likely set off by bombers who died in the explosions, a senior Indonesian counter-terrorism official says. On Saturday, three bombs tore through restaurants packed with evening diners, two at outdoor seafood restaurants on Jimbaran beach and one at a steak bar at Kuta beach in an area surrounded by shops and jammed with pedestrians, including children, police said. At least 107 people were wounded. Indonesia's health minister said 25 people died in the blasts. Fifteen bodies have been identified - 12 Indonesians including a six-year-old boy, two Australians and a Japanese. The wounded included 68 Indonesians, 20 Australians, six South Koreans, four Americans and four Japanese, with other nationalities unknown.
Asked whether the blasts on the resort island were bombings in which the attackers killed themselves, the head of the counter-terrorism desk at the office of the chief security minister said: "Indications lead that way. We found heads detached from their bodies and all of them were around the area of the blasts." Ansyaad Mbai said he did not know whether the bombers wore explosive vests or carried the devices. An Indonesian security source told Aljazeera's correspondent in Indonesia that the blasts were carried out by bombers who died in the explosions. Security experts said the strikes bore the hallmarks of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a network seen as the regional arm of al-Qaida. However, the correspondent quoted other Indonesian sources as rejecting any linking of Saturday's blasts to Muslim groups.
| They always reject any linking of booms to Muslim groups. It's part of the routine. And years from now, they'll be claiming it's not proven that it was Muslims. Instead, it was... |
They believe the incident was a challenge by organised crime groups that sought to stop the Indonesian president's attempts to fight corruption, Aljazeera's Suhaib Jasim said.
| ... or maybe it was alk runners. And if it wasn't them, it had to be some sort of Zionist conspiracy, 'cuz everybody knows Muslims don't do such things... |
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