ISLAMIC STATE’S GLOBAL EXPANSION: A RENEWED THREAT TO ASIA?

ISLAMIC STATE’S GLOBAL EXPANSION: A RENEWED THREAT TO ASIA?

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PART 8: “ISLAMIC STATE IN INDONESIA & THAILAND”

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BY: ROHAN GUNARATNA

Global Asia Vol. 14, No. 3, September 2019

The IS entities are far more dangerous than traditional Muslim separatists, because is wants to create an Islamic state rather than an ethno-nationalist entity. The threat in Indonesia, the largest Muslim majority country in the world, spread with the declaration of a caliphate by is in June 2014. On Jan. 14, 2016, the IS affiliate in Indonesia, Jamaat Ansharut Dawlah, attacked multiple targets near the Sarinah shopping mall in central Jakarta.

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This included suicide attackers and gunmen directed by Aman Abdur Rahman, the IS leader. Eight people — four attackers and four civilians (three Indonesians and an Algerian-Canadian) — were killed, and 23 others injured. Indonesian IS inmates and detainees besieged a prison near Jakarta in May 2018.

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The three-day standoff between police and inmates occurred at the police’s mobile brigade corps headquarters in Depok, West Java. Five police officers lost their lives, with one inmate killed after being shot by the police. Four policemen were also injured in the incident. Another policeman was stabbed to death at the headquarters of the elite mobile brigade police. On May 13, 2018, three churches were attacked in Surabaya, the second largest city in Indonesia, by a family of suicide bombers linked to IS. Indonesians were shocked by the idea of children being used in the attack.

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A total of 691 Indonesians and their family members travelled to Iraq and Syria. About 900 terrorists were arrested in Indonesia during the same period. The partnership between Southeast Asian military and police forces and the US has largely helped keep the region safe from attacks. In Indonesia, the Special Forces unit, Densus 88, has managed the threat of terrorism effectively.

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The challenge has been the failure of the government to manage the threat of radicalization and several political parties that work with Islamist groups, including extremists and terrorist groups. Indonesian society is experiencing growing radicalization, intolerance and the erosion of support for the inclusive national ideology (Pancasila) as a national survey has affirmed growing support for violence and the establishment of an Islamic State, including among government officials and youth, the next generation of Indonesians.

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The presidential and parliamentary elections held on April 17 demonstrated the long-term strategic threat Indonesia faces. The election results can be read as showing a steadfast decline in support for Pancasila and growing support for implementing Sharia.

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While President Joko Widodo was re-elected, his challenger, ex-general Prabowo Subianto, lured Islamists, radicals and even terrorists to support him. In order to attract Muslim votes, Joko, popularly known as Jokowi, co-opted 76-year-old Muslim cleric Ma’ruf Amin, a moderate Islamist, as his vice presidential candidate, and even wanted to release Abu Bakr Bashir, the leader of the group responsible for the Bali bombings, from prison.

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In the world’s fourth most populous nation both Prabowo, who is not known to be very religious and who comes from a mixed Christian-Muslim family, and centrist Jokowi, turned to the religious right. Prabowo received 44 percent of the vote, carrying traditionally conservative strongholds handily, while Jokowi, with a Muslim-cleric running mate, received 55 percent and up to 90 percent of the non-Muslim vote.

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The threat in Thailand has been confined to the Muslim areas in the south in the form of both an insurgency and terrorism. The largest number of deaths and injuries were reported from Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, and Songkhla provinces. These groups receive support from individuals from the northeastern part of Malaysia, notably Kelantan.

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Although there were attacks by the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Al Qaeda-associated Turkistan Islamic Party in Bangkok, the most significant and sustained threat emanated from Pattani groups in the south fighting for independence. However, there are early signs that at least a segment of the nationalist insurgency is gradually transforming into an Islamist campaign. The latest significant attack by a Pattani threat group was on July 25, 2019, when a military post was attacked.

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The group also issued another warning on July 26, 2019: “People, please stay away from Barbee the attack might take place anywhere and anytime. Please be careful, Pattani people.” IS and Al Qaeda affiliated groups in Malaysia have procured weapons from threat groups in Thailand. A few hundred Muslims in Thailand’s South support IS. They are mostly from Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK), the Salafi members of BRN-C.