[Wahono/BenarNews]
Perhaps the only positive thing about the COVID-19 pandemic is that it led to a decline in politically motivated violence in South and Southeast Asia in 2020.
There were hardly any major terrorist attacks and most of the primary secessionist insurgencies were less violent than in years past. The notable exception was the Arakan Army in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
The disarray of the Islamic State (IS) extremist group in the Middle East manifested itself in Southeast Asia. Armed with new legal authorities, Indonesian police arrested some 205 members of IS-affiliated groups and killed roughly 10 more.
The loss of IS-central media platforms diminished the Islamic State brand and recruitment fell. In particular, the Indonesian government’s ongoing crackdown on Telegram weakened IS’s primary tool for radicalization and organization. The majority of attacks by Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) militants were rudimentary stabbings.
Celebrating Christmas and Pluralism as an Indonesian Minority - The News Lens International Edition thenewslens.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thenewslens.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
small but Deadly, Indonesia’s MIT Eludes Capture
For years, Indonesian security forces have combed the jungles of Central Sulawesi in a bid to root out the Eastern Indonesia Mujahideen (MIT), a ragtag band of militants known for decapitating suspected informants and being the first Indonesian outfit to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State terror group.
But the manhunts have failed to destroy MIT, which last month made its most lethal strike to date, murdering four members of a single family, torching homes and terrifying residents of a remote village in Sigi regency.
In a series of special reports, BenarNews examines how the group evolved, how it rebounded after being nearly decimated in 2016, and why it has proven so hard to beat.
Indonesian Authorities Fly Dozens of Jemaah Islamiyah Suspects to Jakarta benarnews.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from benarnews.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
AFP
Indonesian security forces lately announced a series of arrests of high-profile Jemaah Islamiyah suspects. These include Siswanto (Ustad Arif) and Aris Sumarsono (better known as Zulkarnaen), alleged, respectively, to be the terrorist group’s overall head and its longtime operations chief.
Siswanto’s arrest is the second one of a JI leader in as many years, but some reporting suggests he is merely a senior religious figure who headed the committee to select the group’s next emir – or spiritual leader. This year alone has seen the arrest of more than 30 JI suspected members.
All of this is surprising for a group that has been out of the limelight for nearly a decade, during which JI members have stepped back from their campaign of violence. The last bombing perpetrated by JI was a suicide attack in 2011 that targeted a mosque in a police compound in Cirebon.