Indonesia, hit by a spate of militant attacks in the past few years, opened a regional centre on Saturday that will train law enforcement officials to combat terrorists.
The training centre - boasting a forensic laboratory, a Boeing 737-200 airplane and building facades - is set up inside the National Police Academy in the central Java city of Semarang.
"The pupils learn a wide range of material, for instance post bomb-blast analysis in which they can exchange information on how to deal with the situation after the bomb blast," Indonesian police chief Da'i Bactiar told reporters.
Bactiar declined to say how much the centre had cost but neighbouring countries such as Australia, a co-chair for the centre, have given aid for the project.
"This signifies our commitment from both Indonesia and Australia in the fight against terrorism and, of course, involves other countries in the region in relation to that fight," Australian Justice Minister Chris Ellison said at the opening.
Australia has pledged A$38 million ($27 million) over the next five years. The centre is open to police and other officials in the Asia-Pacific region and the curriculum is structured in two-week courses, ranging from examining victims of bombings to handling a hijacking.
Counter-terrorism experts from regional countries have been invited to teach at the centre, Bachtiar said.
Hundreds of people have died in militant attacks targeting foreigners in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.
The Bali night club bombings in October 2002 that killed 202 people, mostly foreigners, were the worst act of terror since the September 11 strikes. A car bombing nine months later at the JW Marriott Hotel killed 12
Once seen as a weak link in the war on terror, Indonesia's swift arrest and trial of suspects in the Bali and Marriott bombings has won praise from the international community. Indonesia has also opened an international school for intelligence studies in the industrial island of Batam, an hour by boat from Singapore.
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