As COVID-19 continues to blanket countries around the world, Indonesia has faced a surge in coronavirus cases. With the government preoccupied by the burgeoning domestic health crisis, there have been opportunistic calls from local terrorist networks for followers to launch fresh attacks in the country.
The surge in online activity of extremist groups has so far not been matched by a noticeable uptick in plots. Still, a recent incident saw two local Islamic State (IS)-affiliated terrorists ambush and attempt to kill a member of the Indonesian National Police in broad daylight in Poso, Central Sulawesi.
The April 15, 2020 attack, which resulted in both perpetrators being killed in a shootout with the police, took place only days after the release of an ISIS fatwa. Published in its weekly editorial newsletter, An-Naba, the fatwa called on IS followers and sympathizers to launch attacks in the name of the “caliphate” and capitalize on its enemies’ preoccupation with the COVID-19 outbreak.
It was subsequently revealed that one of the Poso attackers, Ali, alias Darwin Gobel, had been on the radar of Indonesian law enforcement, having previously been convicted for planning a terrorist attack in Toli-Toli, Central Sulawesi in 2017.
Released after serving a two-year prison term, it appears Ali lapsed back into extremism and reoffended. Indonesian National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) sources have revealed to this author that Ali had been engaged in deradicalization programs, when he was in prison.
His case casts a fresh spotlight on Indonesia’s programs to manage extremists, including prison-based deradicalization initiatives. It also raises two critical questions: was Ali’s re-engagement in terrorism preventable, and to what extent was he inspired by the recent fatwa issued by IS?
Such questions are timely, given that Indonesia’s deradicalization programs – which involve various agencies, including BNPT and some private sector NGOs – have had varied results, with recidivism not uncommon. Ali is believed to be one of over 50 recidivists among an estimated 850 terrorists who have been released from prison since 2002.
Source: The Jakarta Post- 04 May 2020
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