Indonesian jihadist fighters head to Syria, Iraq

Indonesian Muslims display swords and daggers while shouting "Jihad, Jihad" during a protest at the parliament building in Jakarta. Photo: Reuters

 

“When they return, they will be seen

as high-profile jihad.”

Taufik Andrie

(South China Morning Post)  -  Analysts fear Indonesians travelling to Syria and Iraq to fight alongside Islamic militants will return armed with the knowledge and the means to launch terror attacks at home

Indonesians are joining the procession of jihadists going to fight in Syria and Iraq, sparking fears they will revive sophisticated militant networks when they return and undermine a decade-long crackdown that has crippled the country’s most dangerous terrorist cells.

Support for groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) – the Sunni radicals currently rampaging through northern Iraq – is growing among Indonesian extremists with dozens believed to have joined the insurgency.

Analysts say the fighters will pose a new and serious threat to Indonesia when they return home with honed insurgency tactics and international militant connections, echoing the concerns of Western governments.

Flowers line Legian St in Kuta after the October 12, 2002 bombings
of the Sari Club and Paddy's Bar.
.
The attack killed 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians,
27 Britons, 7 Americans, 6 Swedish citizens and 3 Danish citizens).
A further 240 people were injured.

The militants have crossed the border from Syria into northern Iraq and taken over key cities in lightning gains, bringing the Iraqi army to its knees.

Indonesia estimates that 60 Indonesians have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight but experts say the figure is closer to 100 and growing fast.

There are no laws prohibiting Indonesians from joining foreign militant groups and Islamic organisations have openly held fundraisers for ISIL.

“The government must pass legislation to criminalise citizens supporting and travelling overseas to join terrorist groups,” Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert at Singapore’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said.

Analysts point to neighbouring Malaysia, which has been more active, arresting a dozen men in April who were trying to leave the country to fight in Syria.

It failed, however, to prevent a 26-year-old Malaysian from leaving the country for Iraq, where he carried out a suicide attack that killed 25 soldiers.

Indonesians know well the threat of returnees – many of the country’s most notorious terrorists trained in Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s and came back with vast networks, bomb-making skills and access to funding.

Some were in the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which was behind the 2002 twin bombings that killed 202 people on the resort island of Bali as well as other blasts targeting hotels and churches.

The Bali bombings were a wake-up call that galvanised the government. An elite anti-terror police unit was established that has eliminated the masterminds of the attacks in bloody armed raids.

Muslims dressed in white religious robes hold swords during a demonstration at the parliament building to call for a holy war against Christians in eastern Indonesia.