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Terror network in Indonesia remains intact, threat remains real : agency
JAKARTA, Mar 26, 2012 (Xinhua via COMTEX) --
The Indonesian counter-terrorism
agency or BNPB has detected terrorist network in the country
remains intact and the threat remains real, challenging the
authorities to find an effective way to contain the growth of the
network, the agency operations deputy Brig. General Tito Karnavian
has said.
The agency has found out that the terrorist organizations'
activities have continued despite the fact that many terrorist
suspects have either been jailed or killed since the first Bali
bombing in 2002.
"Terrorist activity in Indonesia has not stopped yet. Jamaah
Islamiyah [JI] has reemerged through new channels. There has been
a wave of [terror suspects] released since 2007, also their
international connections have been reestablished," Karnavian was
quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying on Monday.
Based on these conditions, Tito said that the terrorist threat
remained real; the JI network had survived and had created new "
vehicles". There has also been a wave of releases of terror
suspects who have promptly reactivated terror activities.
He said these conditions were a challenge for Indonesia in
finding an effective way to contain the growth of terror networks,
"We have legal constraints here." "We also need to strengthen
interorganizational coordination, including with the military," he
said.
The general said that terrorist groups in Indonesia could be
divided into several mainstream groups namely JI, the Islamic
State of Indonesia (NII), the Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) and
Angkatan Muda Islam Nusantara (Al-Amin).
The Indonesian government has launched full-scale
investigations and prioritized law enforcement to curb the
activities of those terrorist organizations especially following
the devastating Bali bombing in 2002 which killed more than 200
people mostly foreigners.
Indonesia has prosecuted more than 400 terrorists in the period
between 2002 and 2009, according to data from the agency. Since
2010, however, a number of terror attacks have occurred. Tito said
that the quantity of attacks was higher than the country had
experienced before.
Although JI, as an organization, had been inactive since 2002,
Tito said, its network remained intact. "JI is quite a
well-structured organization. In terms of overseas connections, it
has many relationships with Pakistan and Afghanistan networks," he
said.
"So who were the groups involved in the attacks? Basically they
are from the same group.We notice at least three JI splinter
groups including the JAT, the organization cofounded by the former
JI leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, the Hisbah which is based in Solo
and then the Al-Tawhid wal-Jihad," he said.
Last year, a series of mail bomb attacks and a planned bombing
of a church occurred in Tangerang, Banten. Several suspects have
been brought to court.
Also last year, a suicide bomb was targeted at the Cirebon
Police office in West Java. The bomber detonated the bomb inside a
mosque at a police compound in Cirebon on April 15 that year.
Tito said some of those attacks were linked to paramilitary
activities in Aceh and North Sumatra, where there were strong
indications that the JAT or its elements were involved in the
activities.
Recently, the National Police's Densus 88 counterterrorism unit
killed five suspected terrorists in a raid in Bali. The suspected
terrorists reportedly had links to the JAT network.
Meanwhile, BNPT chief Ansyaad Mbai said that the suspected
terrorists had planned to launch an attack in parts of Bali, as
well as other areas in the country.
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