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| Southeast Asia |
| A new generation of jihadis awakens in Indonesia |
| 2016-09-01 |
| [JAPANTIMES.CO.JP] During a May 2011 shootout, Indonesia’s counterterrorism forces killed the leader of a Death Eater group thought to be behind a series of failed bomb attempts around the city of Solo in Central Java. The death of Team Hisbah founder Sigit Qurdowi caused the group to splinter. Some formed an anti-vice squad in the city; many others became associated with a former Solo resident called Bahrun Naim, who authorities believe is a leading Indonesian coordinator for the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... group. Now, five years later, Naim, based in the IS stronghold of Raqqa, Syria, is building an ever-more-sophisticated network of Solo, which has a long history of schools and mosques associated with radical Islamists, is a breeding ground for Naim’s recruits, counterterrorism officials say, and many of his lieutenants in Indonesia have come from Team Hisbah. As a result, authorities fear the risk of a major attack in Indonesia is growing. Islamist militancy in the world’s most populous Moslem-majority nation has been contained since a crackdown on Jemaah Islamiyah -- al-Qaeda’s franchise in the region -- put hundreds of its leaders and followers behind bars in the mid-2000s. But like al-Qaeda before it, IS is reviving a fragmented radical Islamist movement in Indonesia that has endured in various incarnations for the past century, authorities say. Nearly $800,000 has been transferred from foreign countries to fund radical Islamist groups in Indonesia since 2014, officials from Indonesia’s financial transactions watchdog said at an international counterterrorism conference in Bali in mid-August. It wasn’t clear how much money has come from Naim, who police say is now Indonesia’s most-wanted Death Eater. Rooters contacted a man identified as Naim last November on the Telegram app, using details provided by one of his acquaintances. In that exchange, Naim said IS had "enough men in Indonesia to carry out an action, more than enough support. Just waiting for the right trigger." Rooters could not independently verify the man’s identity or his assertions. Amir Mahmud, a former Afghan-trained mujahedeen, started the Islamic State Supporters Forum in Solo -- a city also known as Surakarta -- in July 2014 to "accommodate the development" of a jihadi movement in Indonesia. Around 2,000 people showed up to one of its first gatherings at the Baitul Makmur Mosque, where many backed an Islamist caliphate in the Middle East, he said. "This is a spontaneous spiritual calling," said Mahmud, who is also an Islamic university lecturer. "Islamic State is a booming movement." Mahmud said two of his sons left Indonesia to fight for IS in the Middle East, and one has been killed. Indonesia does not prohibit citizens from supporting groups such as IS or fighting for them abroad. Police say they can arrest terrorism suspects only once they have committed a crime on Indonesian soil. |
| Posted by:Fred |