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Bomb Blasts in Jakarta

May 25, 2017 | Expert Insights

Who is behind this atrocity?

On 24th of May 2017, a suicide bomb attack took place in Jakarta which killed three police officers and injured 10 people in a twin blast near a bus station.

Jakarta attack

Two explosions occurred at the bus terminal in the Kampung Melayu, located in East Jakarta at 9pm on Wednesday. Two suicide bombers are suspected to have carried out the attack. The explosions were caused by multiple explosive devices that were found in the toilet and in another part of the terminal. The attack took place just two days after the Manchester attack which killed 22 people; similarily ISIL was quick to claim responsibility for the attack.

Indonesia has witnessed mostly series of low level attacks by the ISIS. In 2016, a gun and suicide attack had left four attackers and four civilians dead which is believed to have be carried out by ISIS. However, this attack is the biggest one in the capital since last year.

Indonesians joining ISIS

Indonesia has for a long time been fighting armed groups but recently hundreds of them have left to fight for the Islamic state of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq. Indonesia is the world’s biggest Muslim majority nation and the authorities are worried about the rise in radicalism in the new generation fighters who have been inspired by the ISIS. About 400 Indonesians have left for Syria to join ISIS and seek to secure the Levant. Indonesian officials are worried about the possibility of said nationals returning to the country and spreading the form of Islam exposed by ISIS.

The authorities are monitoring about 40 people who have returned from Syria and some sources in the country are saying that the attack was carried out by members of the watch list. ISIS poses a grave threat to the Island nation and the its neighbours. Indigenous terrorism has started having negative repercussions on the Philippines which just began ‘a war on terror’; leading to the deaths of civilians, unrest amongst the public and jailbreaks. Could a similar future lie ahead for Indonesia?

Assessment

Control over the Indonesians who return after time in the Middle East is limited, but surveillance measures and stricter security in developed cities must be improved to limit the threat posed to the people. Through the ISIS backed Abu Sayyaf and the Taliban backed Jemaah Islamiyah, there could be a threat of them linking up with existing networks to spread radicalisation to a greater level in Indonesia.

This radicalisation could grow in other Southeast Asian countries as well like the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Brunei who have already been facing the issue of militancy.

The Indonesian authorities and government should seek to engage the public; information and the true nature of terrorist groups could help dissuade members of the community joining known militant groups. It should restrict the flow of citizens to Syria to join ISIS and take stringent actions against those forming such groups in Indonesia.