Jakarta – The Indonesian army has set up anti-terror desks in its nationwide regional commands to liaise with police on counter-terrorism, a report said Sunday.

The move shifts the military towards closer involvement in operations to combat terrorism, which has so far been overseen largely by police alone.

The anti-terror desks became operational in all regional army commands on November 1, the Indo Pos newspaper said, citing an unnamed senior officer at army headquarters. Indonesia has 12 regional commands covering several provinces each.

The daily also quoted East Java army spokesman Bambang Sulistyono as confirming that the East Java command had already formed an anti-terror desk.

"All information obtained will be coordinated with the national police," Sulistyono said, adding that the desk may detain people suspected of links to terrorist activities but would immediately hand them to police.

Each anti-terror desk is to be headed by the command's head of staff affairs, with its inspector general as a deputy, Indo Pos said.

The spokesman of the Indonesian armed forces Ahmad Yani Basuki declined comment, saying that the matter fell under the authority of the army. The army spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.

Indonesia has seen a series of bloody attacks in recent years, mostly blamed on the al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network. Analysts have said that some of the latest attacks may have been organised by a JI splinter group.

The latest attack blew up three popular eateries on the resort island of Bali on October 1, killing 20 and three suicide bombers. The identity of the bombers remained unknown.

Bali had already been the target of bombing attacks in October 2002 that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Two other bombing attacks rocked the capital, Jakarta in 2003 and 2004.

Australia on Friday updated its official travel advisory on Indonesia, warning that extremists may be planning attacks in the country within the next two months.