The Indonesian military and police will deploy 40,000 personnel to "safeguard" the 2018 Asian Games, according to Amal Ganesha of the JAKARTA GLOBE. Around 15,000 athletes and officials from 45 countries will participate in Asia's biggest multi-sport event, co-hosted by Jakarta and Palembang, South Sumatra, from Aug. 18-Sept. 2. Top concerns during the event "include street crime, terrorism, traffic congestion and haze." Around 600 closed-circuit TV cameras have been installed in Palembang, while "several additional police stations will be opened in the Indonesian capital to prevent street crime" (JAKARTA GLOBE, 8/2). REUTERS' Ardiansyah & Beo Da Costa reported Indonesian security forces "jumped out of helicopters and abseiled down the side of a high-rise" in a counter-terrorism drill in Jakarta on Wednesday. Special forces "simulated a militant attack and a hostage situation at the main stadium complex after the Muslim-majority country suffered its deadliest militant attacks in more than a decade in May" (REUTERS, 8/1).
