JAKARTA ~ The authorities staged a counterterrorism drill at the Jakarta stock exchange on Wednesday, mimicking last month’s deadly attacks that killed 172 people in Mumbai, police said.

The Jakarta head of the Special Detachment 88 anti-terror squad, Rudi Sufahriadi, said the exercise had been requested by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to anticipate a terrorist strike such as the one in the Indian city.

“It’s a practice session to gear up for a bigger joint drill with the military this Sunday,” he added.

The lunchtime exercise involving 400 police simulated an attack and hostage-taking by militants and included heavily armed members of the anti-terrorist squad.

Indonesia has a history of violent bombings by Islamist extremists, but has not suffered a major attack since the 2005 suicide bombings in Bali that killed 20 people.