Recent Appearances...

Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances...

Abu Bakar Bashir	Abu Bakar Bashir	Jemaah Islamiah	Southeast Asia				20030926
	Abu Bakar Bashir	Malaysian Mujahidin Movement	Southeast Asia				20021111
	Abu Bakar Bashir	Indonesian Mujahideen Movement	Southeast Asia				20021111
	Abu Bakar Bashir	Rabitatul Mujahideen	Southeast Asia				20021120
	Abu Bakar Bashir	Ngruki Islamic boarding school	Southeast Asia				20021124
	Abu Bakar Bashir	Supreme Council of Global Jihad	Terror Networks				20030813
	Abu Bakar Bashir	Majelis Mujahiddin Indonesia	Southeast Asia				20040414	Link
	Abu Bakar Bashir	Jemaah Islamiya	Southeast Asia				20051002	Link
	Abu Bakar Bashir	al-Qaeda	Down Under				20040525	Link
	Abu Bakar Bashir	al Ghuraba	Southeast Asia				20040617	Link
	Abu Bakar Bashir	Indonesian Mujahedeen Council	Southeast Asia				20060731	Link
	Abu Bakar Bashir	Jemaah Islamiyah	Southeast Asia	Indonesian	At Large	Supremo	20050806
	Abu Bakar Bashir	Indonesian Mujahiddin Council	Southeast Asia				20020108

Southeast Asia

Bali bombmaker paroled; suicide bomber kills 1 in attack on police station

2022-12-08

[BenarNews] Indonesia on Wednesday released the Bali attacks bombmaker from prison at least seven years before he served out his full 20-year sentence. A justice ministry official confirmed that Umar Patek, who assembled the bombs used in the 2002 Bali Bombings — Indonesia’s worst ever terror attack — was freed on parole in the morning.

On the same day, a former terrorism convict apparently unhappy with Indonesia’s new criminal code went kaboom! at a cop shoppe in Bandung, killing an officer and wounding 10 other people, officials said.

The bomber had been released from prison last March after serving four years for a failed suicide kaboom in 2017 that was blamed on Jamaah Ansharut Daulah

...founded by our old friend Abu Bakar Bashir of Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah fame, JAD translates cleverly as Partisans of the Islamic State, but really only means (Wink! Wink!) ISIS in Indonesia...
(JAD), an Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
-linked bully boy group, police said.

Umar had been associated with another bully boy group, Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian affiliate of the al-Qaeda international terror network.

"Hisyam bin Alizein, alias Umar Patek, was released from the Surabaya Penitentiary under the parole program," said Rika Aprianti, spokesperson for the directorate general of corrections at the Law and Human Rights Ministry.

Rika said Umar had fulfilled conditions for parole, including having served two-thirds of his sentence and taking part in deradicalization programs as well as pledging allegiance to the state.

"The granting of parole was also recommended by the National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) and the Special Detachment 88 (Densus 88)," Rika said in a statement, referring to the police’s elite anti-terrorism unit.

Umar has to now mandatorily join a "mentoring program" until April 2030, and his parole would be revoked if he violates it in any way, the statement said.

Umar was arrested in Pakistain in 2011 and tried in Indonesia. In 2012, instead of receiving the death penalty

, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Like other prisoners in Indonesia, Umar, too, had received a series of sentence cuts for good behavior to mark Indonesian holidays.

In August, Umar said in an interview with the prison chief that it was a "mistake" to be involved in the Oct. 12, 2002 twin bombings in Bali that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Indonesian authorities blamed the attack on Jemaah Islamiyah.

In 2008, Indonesian authorities executed Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Mukhlas for their roles in the bombings.

Counterterrorism officials have touted Umar as a deradicalization success story, but the news in August that he would be paroled outraged people and officials in Australia.

BOMBING KILLS POLICE OFFICER
Meanwhile,
...back at the revival hall, the SWAT team had finally arrived...
several people on social media expressed their unhappiness about Umar’s early release.

"His release today at the same time as #BomBunuhDiri #Bandung [the suicide kaboom in Bandung] actually gives a negative signal to the public and will cheer up terrorist groups," @HastoSuprayogo said on Twitter.

Police said the jacket wallah forced his way into the Astana Anyar cop shoppe in Bandung, the capital of West Java province, and set off the bomb while officers were conducting a morning roll-call.

"He was stopped by several officers, but he brandished a knife and suddenly there was a kaboom," said provincial police chief Inspector General Suntana, who uses one name.

Fingerprint and facial recognition results confirmed that the perpetrator was Agus Sujatno, national police chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo told news hounds. The 34-year-old bomber had not been successfully deradicalized, Listyo said.

Photos circulating online showed the bomber’s body parts strewn on the ground. An officer identified as Sofyan died in a hospital of his injuries.

Police seized a cycle of violence they said belonged to the bomber. The vehicle had an Islamic State logo and a piece of paper taped to the front of the vehicle that read "The Criminal Code, the law of polytheists/infidels. Wage war against Satanic law enforcers."

The attack came a day after the Indonesian parliament passed a broad new criminal code that, critics fear, would threaten civil liberties. Listyo said police also found pieces of paper at the scene scribbled with criticisms of the criminal code.

The national police have ordered stations across the country to tighten security and increase vigilance, front man Brigadier Gen. Ahmad Ramadhan said.

’WE CAN’T READ THEIR MINDS’
Nasir Abbas, a former bully boy who has worked with counter-terrorism police, said the attack was a sign that that JAD could still carry out attacks.

"This shows that the movement (JAD) still exists and is capable of getting people to carry out suicide kabooms. That’s the message," Nasir told BenarNews.

Nasir said the bomber’s supposed objection to the new criminal code was not surprising because JAD Death Eaters had always rejected Indonesian secular laws in favor of sharia.

Imron Rasyid, a security analyst at the Habibie Center think-tank, said the attack was timed with the controversy over the criminal code.

"They are taking advantage of the moment [to increase the impact of their action]," Imron told BenarNews.

Imron warned that JAD remained a major threat because the group had been recruiting while authorities were preoccupied with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Boy Rafli Amar, the head of the National Counter-terrorism Agency (BNPT), rejected suggestions that security authorities were caught off guard.

"Terrorists always look for opportunities to strike. We can’t read their minds," Boy said.

Indonesian authorities have blamed JAD for a series of attacks in Indonesia over the past six years.

These include gun and kabooms near a shopping center and a coffee shop in Central Jakarta in 2016, the first terror strike claimed by the Islamic State in Southeast Asia. The attack killed eight people including four bully boys.

JAD was also involved in suicide kabooms in 2018 in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city, authorities said. Twenty-seven people died, including 13 suspects.

Link

Southeast Asia

Anger in Australia as Sentence Cut Means Jihadist Bali Bomber Could Be Free in Days

2022-08-22

[Breitbart] Australia’s leader said Friday that it’s upsetting Indonesia has further reduced the prison sentence of the bombmaker in the Bali terror attack that killed 202 people — which could free him within days if he’s granted parole.

The most recent reduction of Umar Patek’s sentence takes his total reductions to almost two years and means Patek could be released on parole ahead of the 20th anniversary of the bombings in October.

"This will cause further distress to Australians who were the families of victims of the Bali bombings," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Channel 9. "We lost 88 Australian lives in those bombings."

Indonesia often grants sentence reductions to prisoners on major holidays such as the nation’s Independence Day, which was Wednesday.

Patek received a 5-month reduction on Independence Day for good behavior and could walk free this month from Porong Prison in East Java province if he gets parole, said Zaeroji, who heads the provincial office for the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.

Zaeroji, who goes by a single name, said Patek had the same rights as other inmates and had fulfilled legal requirements to get sentence reductions. "While in the prison, he behaved very well and he regrets his radical past which has harmed society and the country and he has also vowed to be a good citizen," Zaeroji said.

Patek was arrested in Pakistain in 2011 and tried in Indonesia, where he was convicted in 2012. He was originally sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.

With his time served plus sentence reductions, he became eligible for parole on Aug. 14. The decision from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights in Jakarta is still pending, Zaeroji said. If refused parole, he could remain locked away
You have the right to remain silent...
until 2029.

Patek was one of several men implicated in the attack, which was widely blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian krazed killer group with ties to al-Qaeda. Most of those killed in the bombing on the resort island were foreign tourists.

Another conspirator, Ali Imron, was sentenced to life. Earlier this year, a third krazed killer, Aris Sumarsono, whose real name is Arif Sunarso but is better known as Zulkarnaen, was sentenced to 15 years following his capture in 2020 after 18 years on the run.

Bali bomber Umar Patek's release is being discussed. Here's what you need to know about that and his role in the attack

[MSN] Umar Patek — who was jailed for 20 years over his role in the 2002 Bali bombings — has been given a further five-month reduction to his sentence as part of Indonesia's Independence Day celebrations.

He was one of 16,659 prisoners in East Java who received a reduction in their prison terms.

Here's what we know.

Patek was accused of being the expert bombmaker for Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a South-East Asian terror network linked to Al Qaeda.

Evidence in his 2012 trial suggested former Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden gave JI $30,000 to wage jihad and Patek might have met him in a Pakistani town, a claim Patek repeatedly denied.

He went into hiding after the bombings, being on the most-wanted terrorist list in several countries, with the US offering a $1 million bounty for his head.

Patek was eventually captured in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in 2011 and extradited to Indonesia.

On top of his conviction over the Bali bombings, he was also found guilty of weapons and conspiracy charges over a terrorist training camp in Aceh in 2009, and for mixing explosives for a series of Christmas Eve attacks on churches in 2000.

WHY WAS HIS SENTENCE REDUCED?
Indonesian authorities say he's been deradicalised. Patek reportedly told Indonesian newspaper JawaPos he was committed to assisting the Indonesian government in deradicalisation programs.

"Because, so far, I think radicalism still exists," he said.

"It can exist anywhere, in any region or country. Because the roots are still there."

He said he had been active for the past eight years in deradicalisation programs organised by prisons, Indonesia's National Counter Terrorism Agency and other institutions.

In 2015, Major General Agus Surya Bakti — who led the Indonesia's deradicalisation efforts through its anti-terrorism agency — spoke of Patek's success in the program.

"It's an extraordinary thing," he said.

Zaeroji — the head of Ministry of Law and Human Rights' provincial office — said the deradicalisation program at the Surabaya prison where Patek was serving his sentence was considered successful.

"Now there are seven terrorism convicts in the Surabaya prison, and all of them have declared their loyalty to the Republic of Indonesia," said Zaeroji, who goes by a single name.

WHAT WAS PATEK'S ROLE IN THE BOMBING?
Bombs went off at the Sari Club and Paddy's Bar in Kuta about 11pm on October 12, 2002.

Patek made some of the bombs used in the attack, with local media calling him "Demolition Man" during his trial. He admitted mixing as much as 50 kilograms of the explosives and packing them into filing cabinets used to carry the bomb to the Sari Club.

During his trial, Patek downplayed his role in the terror plot and argued that he didn't know how the bombs would be used.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT HIS SENTENCE?
Patek was convicted for premeditated murder. He was spared the death penalty because he cooperated with investigators and and apologised to the victims' families, eventually being sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The ABC understands he has been granted routine remissions in his sentence, which has brought his release date forward to 2029. Typically, with incremental reductions and good behaviour, prisoners can get parole after serving about two thirds of their sentence. He was due to become eligible for parole in January.

WHEN MIGHT HE WALK FREE?
There are reports he could be freed within days — but that's only if he is granted parole.

The ABC has been told that terrorists aren't usually eligible for parole.

And Indonesian authorities say no decision has been made on whether he will be released.

If he's not granted parole, he'll be in prison until 2029.

WHAT ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE ATTACK?
In 2008, Imam Samudra, Amrozi, and Mukhlas were executed for their roles in the attack.

Abu Bakar Bashir — who was found guilty of conspiracy over the Bali bombings — was released from prison after 26 months in 2006 after his sentence was shortened.

He was given a 15-year jail sentence in 2011 for supporting militant training camps, but was released last year.

As former military commander of JI, Aris Sumarsono — better known as Zulkarnaen — was accused of masterminding the attacks. In January, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison on a string to terror charges, but was unable to be tried in relation to the Bali bombings because the statue of limitations had expired.

Link

Southeast Asia

Five terrorists detained in Indonesia

2021-11-10

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] Indonesian police have detained five suspected terrorist group members in East Java, Indonesian law enforcement spokesman Ahmad Ramadan said during a news conference.

The detentions reportedly took place in several areas of the province. The detainees are suspected of smuggling weapons, training militants for a terrorist organization, as well as links with Islamists. During the searches, the police seized some donations that could have been used to fund the militants.

It is noted that the investigation into this case is ongoing. The terrorist group is suspected of a series of bombings in Indonesia. In particular, it is alleged that Islamists were involved in the bombings of two nightclubs in Bali, which killed 202 people.

That’d be Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), Abu Bakar Bashir‘s old outfit. Then in 2014, as leader of Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), he pledged allegiance to ISIS, so it could be that the five are JAD/ISIS rather than JI/Al Qaeda. Perhaps another source will have that information at some point.

Link

Southeast Asia

Jemaah Islamiyah big turban Zulkarnaen on trial

2021-10-16

[BenarNews] People convicted of the 2002 Bali bombings testified in the trial of Aris Sumarsono, who is better known as Zulkarnaen and is the former military leader of the outlawed murderous Moslem group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).

Zulkarnaen, 58, who had been on the run for about 18 years when he was arrested last year, is charged with a criminal conspiracy for allegedly harboring Upik Lawanga. Police said Upik, who was also arrested last year, was a top JI bomb-maker.

Indonesian authorities blamed JI for a series of deadly attacks in Indonesia in the early 2000s, including the October 2002 bombings at nightclubs in Bali, which killed 202 people in Indonesia’s most fatal terror attack.

The outlawed JI is the Southeast Asian affiliate of al-Qaeda, but it has not staged a major attack here since 2011.

Zulkarnaen is not charged with involvement in the Bali bombings, even though witnesses said he was the group’s military leader at that time.

In a virtual hearing, the witnesses told the court that Zulkarnaen formed and recruited members for a JI special team to prepare attacks. But they said they never met or took orders from Zulkarnaen before the Bali attack.

"Regarding the Bali bombing, [Zulkarnaen] has nothing to do with it, but long before the Bali bombing, he had been our leader," said Sarjio, who is serving a life sentence for helping assemble the bombs used in the attack.

Another witness, Suranto, said Zulkarnaen had never provided any directions regarding the Bali bombings. Suranto said he joined the special team set up by Zulkarnaen.

"I have known him since we joined military training in Pakistain. Other members have known the defendant since he was in Pakistain and Afghanistan," Suranto testified.

Muhammad Adhe Bhakti, a researcher at the Center for Radicalism and De-radicalization Studies (PAKAR), said terror groups created cells whose members often do not know each other.

"It is possible that the witnesses of the Bali bombing did not know who played what role in the attack, including what role Zulkarnaen played," Adhe told BenarNews.

According to the indictment, Zulkarnaen helped write JI’s guidebook. During his escape, other JI members helped Zulkarnaen and provided him with cash because he was considered a valuable asset and had military expertise, it said.

On Tuesday, a top counter-terrorism official said that police remained vigilant against threats posed by JI.

Police have arrested 876 members of the group since the 2002 Bali bombings, according to M.D. Shodiq, a director at Densus 88.

But the number of JI members and sympathizers is estimated to be 10 times as many, with 67 JI-affiliated religious schools suspected to be breeding grounds for murderous Moslems, he warned.

In 2020, JI’s overall leader, Para Wijayanto, was sentenced to seven years in prison. The group’s radical spiritual leader,

Link

Southeast Asia

Indonesia: Tip By Terror Convict Leads Police to Explosive Stash

2021-10-16

[BenarNews] Information obtained from a convicted pro-Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
bully boy led to the seizure of 35 kilos of home-made explosives at the foot of a mountain in West Java province earlier this month, Indonesian police said Wednesday.

Prisoner Imam Mulyana, a member of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah

...founded by our old friend Abu Bakar Bashir of Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah fame, JAD translates cleverly as Partisans of the Islamic State, but really only means (Wink! Wink!) ISIS in Indonesia...
(JAD), an Indonesian bully boy network affiliated with the so-called Islamic State (IS) group, was arrested in 2017 in Cirebon, a city in West Java, for a failed attempt
...Curses! Foiled again!...
to attack an entourage of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

"Imam made an astonishing confession that he and his group had kept 35 kilograms of TATP," said Aswin Siregar, a top officer with Densus 88, Indonesia’s elite anti-terrorism police unit.

Imam guided the police to Mount Ciremai near Cirebon to find the stash of triacetone triperoxide (TATP), a powerful home-made explosive known to Lions of Islam as the Mother of Satan, Aswin told BenarNews.

TATP, which is highly unstable, has been used in several terrorist attacks in recent years. These include the 2005 London Underground bombing, terror attacks in Gay Paree in 2015, attacks on the Brussels metro and airport in 2016, and a bombing the next year at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, according to New America, a Washington think-tank.

"Thanks to our de-radicalization efforts, Imam Mulyana asked us on October 1 to secure the dangerous material," said Aswin, who heads the operational support at Densus 88, which also runs a program to reform Lions of Islam and reintegrate them into society.

Imam traveled with the police to the mountain hideout the same day. Aswin said that a police bomb-squad disposed of the stash of TATP in the mountain as soon as the authorities found it.

Only 50 grams of the materiel was enough to create a one-meter-wide and 20-centimeter-deep hole when detonated in a controlled explosion, Aswin said, adding the blasts from disposing of the explosive caused severe vibrations, holes in the ground, and landslides.

Imam, 31, "was fully aware that the terrorist act they had planned was a crime against humanity and a betrayal of his religion," Aswin said.

Stanislaus Riyanta, a security researcher at the University of Indonesia, praised the police for their work.

"This is proof that [the bully boys] had a big plan. This finding should prompt the police to look for more explosive stashes," Stanislaus told BenarNews.

Link

Southeast Asia

Indonesian Police Catch 48 Suspected Islamic Militants in Nationwide Dragnet

2021-08-17

[BenarNews] Indonesian police said Monday they had arrested 48 suspected Islamic ~~bandidos~~ ~~bandidos~~ bad boys during nationwide raids in recent days as part of efforts to stop "acts of terrorism."

The arrests of 45 suspected Jemaah Islamiyah ~~bandidos~~ ~~bandidos~~ bad boys and three people with alleged ties to Jamaah Ansharut Daulah

...founded by our old friend Abu Bakar Bashir of Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah fame, JAD translates cleverly as Partisans of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....

Link

Southeast Asia

Islamic State-linked Suspects Arrested in Indonesia’s Papua Region Allegedly Targeted Bishop

2021-06-03

[BenarNews] Twelve suspected Islamic snuffies taken into custody in a southern district of Indonesia’s troubled Papua region had planned to attack a local archbishop and cop shoppes there, authorities said Tuesday.

The suspects arrested in Papua’s Merauke regency on Friday and Sunday were linked to a cell of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah,

...founded by our old friend Abu Bakar Bashir of Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah fame, JAD translates cleverly as Partisans of the Islamic State, but really only means ISIS in Indonesia...

an Indonesian bully boy network affiliated with the so-called Islamic State

...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....

Link

Southeast Asia

Day 3: Newlywed Couple Launched Suicide Attack at Indonesian Church, Police Say

2021-03-30

See yesterday’s reports here and here, and the Palm Sunday report here.

[BenarNews] The two suspects who carried out a suicide kaboom in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province on Palm Sunday were a newlywed couple and part of a local krazed killer cell linked to another couple who blew themselves up at a Philippine cathedral in January 2019, police said Monday.
Islamic Romance™
Police said that Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD),

...founded by our old friend Abu Bakar Bashir of Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah fame, JAD translates cleverly as Partisans of the Islamic State, but really only means ISIS in Indonesia...

a pro-Islamic State

Link

Southeast Asia

Indonesia: Explosion at church causes casualties Update: 20 maimed, 2 jacket wallahs toes up

2021-03-28

[DW] A suspected kaboom has rocked a Catholic church in the Indonesian city of Makassar on Palm Sunday, injuring several people.

A suspected jacket wallah blew themselves up outside a cathedral in Indonesia's South Sulawesi province on Sunday

The explosion took place at the main Catholic church in the city of Makassar and caused casualties, police said.

The congregation had been inside the church at the time of the earth-shattering kaboom, South Sulawesi police front man E. Zulpan told Rooters.

"We see that there are victims and parts of human bodies have been torn apart. We do not know yet whether they are from the perpetrator or from the people who were close by," he said.

PRIEST TELLS OF SEVERAL INJURED
Father Wilhemus Tulak, a priest at the church, told local media that the suspected bomber tried to enter the church grounds on a cycle of violence

, but had been stopped by a security guard.

Ten people had been maimed in total, some of them seriously, he said.

The explosion happened just after Sunday services wrapped up, the church's pastor told Metro TV. Video from the scene showed police had set up a cordon around the church and cars parked nearby were damaged.

The blast took place at 10:28 a.m. local time (0328 UTC/GMT).

The Kompas TV news channel said it was a suspected suicide kaboom.

NO CLAIM OF RESPONSIBILITY
Police did not say who might be responsible for the apparent attack and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Makassar is Indonesia's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung and Medan, with a population of 1.5 million.

Churches have been targeted previously by Death Eaters in Indonesia, the world's biggest Moslem-majority nation. In 2018, a dozen people were killed when a family of suicide bombers blew themselves up at churches during Sunday services in the second-biggest city Surabaya.

The country's deadliest Islamist bully boy attack took place on the tourist island of Bali in 2002, when bombers killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists.

Update from ABC News at 1:30 p.m. ET courtesy of Clem:

Two attackers have blown themselves up outside a packed Roman Catholic cathedral during a Palm Sunday Mass on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, wounding at least 20 people.

A video obtained by The Associated Press showed body parts scattered near a burning motorbike at the gates of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province.

Police later said both attackers were killed instantly and evidence collected at the scene indicated one of the two was a woman. The maimed included four guards and several churchgoers, police said.

The attack a week before Easter in the world's most populous Moslem-majority nation came as the country was on high alert following December's arrest of the leader of the Southeast Asian bad boy group, Jemaah Islamiyah, which has been designated a terror group by many nations.

President Joko Widodo condemned Sunday’s attack and said it has nothing to do with any religion as all religions would not tolerate any kind of terrorism.

"I call on people to remain calm while worshipping because the state guarantees you can worship without fear," Widodo said in a televised address.

He offered his prayers to those injured and said the government would cover all costs of medical treatment. He said he had ordered the national police chief to investigate the attack and crack down on any krazed killer network that may be involved.

At least 20 people were maimed in the attack and had been admitted to hospitals for treatment, said Mohammad Mahfud, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs.

Indonesia's National Police spokesperson Argo Yuwono said police were still trying to identify the two attackers on the cycle of violence and whether they were linked to a local affiliate of the banned Jemaah Islamiyah network or were acting independently.

Indonesian forces in December arrested the group's leader Aris Sumarsono, also known as Zulkarnaen. Over the past month the country's counterterrorism squad has arrested about 64 suspects, including 19 in Makassar, following a tipoff about possible attacks against police and places of worship.

While Jemaah Islamiyah has been weakened over the past decade by a sustained crackdown, in recent years a new threat has emerged in militants who fought with the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria and returned to Indonesia or those inspired by the group’s attacks abroad.

Indonesia's last major attack was in May 2018, when two families carried out a series of suicide bombings on churches in the second-largest city of Surabaya, killing a dozen people including two young girls whose parents had involved them in one of the attacks. Police said the father was the leader of a local affiliate of the Islamic State group known as Jemaah Anshorut Daulah.

...founded by our old friend Abu Bakar Bashir of Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah fame, JAD (Partisans of the [Islamic] State) is an umbrella group of Indonesian extremists that claims allegiance to ISIS...

Link

Southeast Asia

Indonesia: Radical Cleric Rejects Violence, Denies Role in Bali Bombings

2021-02-20

Wudn’t me.”

[BenarNews] Cleric

Abu Bakar Bashir
... Leader of the Indonesian Mujahedeen Council and proprietor of the al-Mukmin madrassah in Ngruki. The spriritual head of Jemaah Islamiya, which he denies exists. Bashir was jugged and then released in the wake of the 2002 Bali bombings, which he blamed on a conspiracy among the U.S., Israel, and Australia. In 2014, as leader of Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), he pledged allegiance to ISIS....
on Thursday denied that he knew about the 2002 Bali bombings ahead of time and said he opposed violence in Islam’s name, as counterterrorism officials visited him as part of their monitoring of former terrorist inmates.

The elderly Bashir spoke to officials from the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) as they dropped by at his home in Sukoharjo, Central Java, for the first time since his release last month after serving a decade in prison on terror-related charges. His lawyer, Achmad Michdan, said Bashir told the officials he had never supported acts of violence in the name of religion.

Link

China-Japan-Koreas

Australian military to continue patrolling South China Sea as Beijing warns Taiwan independence ‘means war’

2021-01-31

[Guardian] Australian military ships and aircraft will continue to patrol the South China Sea amid warnings from China that a declaration of independence by Taiwan would “mean war”.

With Taiwan reporting an increase in Chinese military aircraft in its air defence zone, and with Beijing cautioning independence forces against “playing with fire”, the Australian government is closely monitoring developments in the region.

The US military announced last weekend that a US aircraft carrier group had entered the South China Sea in a bid to promote “freedom of the seas”.

A spokesperson for the Australian Department of Defence said: “Australian vessels and aircraft will continue to exercise rights under international law to freedom of navigation and overflight, including in the South China Sea, and we support others doing the same.

The comments were in response to questions about the US aircraft carrier group’s arrival, and whether the new Biden administration had requested Australia join it in the South China Sea or whether it would carry out its own exercises soon.

The Australian government believes Australia has a substantial interest in the stability of the South China Sea, in part because of the vast volume of trade that flows through it. While Australia routinely operates alongside the US and other partners, the government sticks to the position of not commenting on the specific details of Australian Defence Force operations.

Amid heightened tensions in the region, self-governed Taiwan has reported an increase in Chinese military aircraft in its air defence zone since last weekend. Six such aircraft, including four J-10 fighter jets, flew close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands at the top end of the South China Sea on Thursday, according to a Reuters report that cited Taiwan’s defence ministry.

Wu Qian, a spokesperson for China’s defence ministry, said on Thursday that Taiwan was “an inalienable part of China” and the Chinese military activities in the Taiwan Strait “a solemn response to the interference of external forces and the provocations by ‘Taiwan independence’ forces”.

According to a Chinese defence ministry summary of the monthly press conference, Wu also said he wanted to warn independence forces “that those who play with fire will set themselves on fire, and seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ means nothing but war”.

It is understood the Australian government’s position is to support a peaceful resolution of differences over Taiwan and other regional issues through dialogue and without the threat or use of force or coercion. The government also maintains that American leadership in the Indo-Pacific is welcome in order to uphold rules, norms and standards in the region.

Australia’s defence minister, Linda Reynolds, said after her first phone call with her new US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, on Wednesday that Australia and the US would “continue to work side by side with allies and partners to maintain a region that is secure, prosperous, inclusive and rules-based”.

The Pentagon issued a statement saying the US defence secretary had “emphasised the importance of maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific, founded on existing international law and norms in a region free of malign behaviour”.

Neither the Pentagon nor Reynolds directly mentioned China, but Australia has been at odds with its largest trading partner over a range of issues including Beijing’s militarisation of disputed features in the South China Sea and crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong.

Greg Moriarty, the head of Australia’s defence department, said last month that China had acted in a “disturbing” manner and complicated Australia’s security environment through its activities in the South China Sea. Moriarty also said a number of countries in the Indo-Pacific were deeply anxious about the future prospects for peace and stability, and the great powers to conduct themselves in a way that reassured the region.

Link

Southeast Asia

Indonesia to Free Radical Cleric Abu Bakar Bashir from Prison

2021-01-30

January 4, 2021
[BenarNews]

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More