DENPASAR, Indonesia: Dozens of mourners on Saturday commemorated the 17th anniversary of the Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people on the Indonesian resort island, as Islamic militant attacks continue to plague the country. Grieving families and representatives from several embassies laid flowers and lit incense sticks at a memorial in the popular tourist hub Kuta, where radical Islamists detonated bombs in 2002. A candlelight vigil was also being held to mark the country's deadliest terror attack and remember the 202 victims -- mostly foreign holidaymakers from more than 21 countries. Indonesia, the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation, has long struggled with Islamist militancy and on Friday President Joko Widodo ordered beefed-up security measures to help prevent further attacks. People attend a memorial service for the victims of the 2002 Bali bombings to mark the 17th anniversary of the attacks, at the Bali Bombing Memorial (back C) in Kuta near Denpasar on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on October 12, 2019.-AFPThe intervention followed Thursday's assassination attempt on chief security minister Wiranto, a 72-year-old former army chief, by two militants from an IS-linked group.

Source: New Strait Times October 12, 2019 12:00 UTC