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INDONESIA: TERROR THREAT RISING
- particularly for Java, Poso (in Central Sulawesi) and Indonesia's Chinese community
By Elizabeth Kendal
Unlike al-Qaeda - which peddles a narrative of victimhood - Islamic State peddles a positive and apocalyptic narrative: the End Times are upon us so reach out and grasp the success that Allah has promised! Through its weekly newsletter, Al-Naba (The Dispatch), Islamic State (IS) has been exhorting its supporters to see the COVID-19 as Allah's vengeance on Islam's enemies, in particular China (which persecutes Uyghur Muslims), Shi'ite Iran, the 'crusader' West and Russia. Consequently, IS is exhorting its fighters to exploit this opportunity Allah has afforded them and attack infidels and apostates in their moment of crisis. Despite being decimated and in disarray, IS-affiliated (or even just inspired) jihadists have responded to the call and escalated their terrorism, primarily in Iraq where the group was born and is resurgent.
In Indonesia, IS-aligned jihadist groups - Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) and Mujahidin Indonesia Timur (MIT) - have escalated their terrorist rhetoric and activity. It is true that these groups are small; indeed, one researcher recently described Central Sulawesi's Poso-based MIT as 'a small but stubbornly resistant group of ragtag terrorists ... hiding out in the hills'. It is also true that Indonesia's counter-terrorism force, Densus 88, has been very effective in keeping these groups contained. However, even one 'ragtag terrorist' can do incredible damage if he manages to slip through the net. On Sunday 13 May 2018 one family belonging to JAD bombed three churches in Surabaya, East Java, killing 13 and wounding 43.
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| MIT leader Ali Kalora, Poso, April 2020 |
Bigger and more sophisticated than MIT, Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) is an Indonesia-wide network of some two dozen Indonesian militant groups that have pledged allegiance to Islamic State. On 13 April 2020 anti-terror forces raided a house in Muna, an island in south-east Sulawesi, where five JAD terrorists were holed up. One attacked the officers and was shot dead; the remaining four, who hailed from Central Java and South Sulawesi, were arrested. Police confiscated bladed weapons, long-range firearms and bomb-making equipment. On 26 and 27 April counter-terrorism raids targeted JAD cells at each end of Java. Three JAD suspects were arrested in the raid in Sidoarjo, a suburb of Surabaya, East Java. Three more JAD suspects - one of whom is a former air force serviceman - were arrested in the raid in Serang, the capital of Banten Province, west of Jakarta. Police also netted 2,300 rounds of ammunition (of the type used in assault rifles and in the service weapons used by the Indonesian military and police), along with a camouflaged sniper rifle (of the sort used by Kostrad [Army Strategic Command]) and several automatic pistols. It is reportedly 'the most Indonesian militants are known to have had in their possession in almost two decades'.
Rooted as it is in IS's COVID-19 narrative, JAD's rhetoric is profoundly anti-China. The risk is that this could translate into attacks on Chinese-owned businesses and Indonesia's Chinese community, more than 40 percent of whom are Christian.
PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR ALMIGHTY GOD WILL
* intervene to sever the supply lines that enable fighters and weapons to flow between Indonesia and the southern Philippines; may any 'leakage' of weapons from Indonesia's security forces also be stopped. 'Break the arm [the mechanism of action] of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none.' (Psalm 10:15 ESV)
* facilitate the capture of Poso-based MIT terrorist leader Ali Kalora, along with anyone who is plotting evil against Indonesian civilians and particularly against the Lord's people.
* protect Indonesia's churches, Christians and Chinese community from Islamic State-inspired terrorism as Indonesia struggles to contain the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
* comfort and encourage the Church in Central Sulawesi, where memories of brutal Islamic jihad are still raw; may the church's message of peace and fellowship be embraced widely. 'Blessed are the peacemakers ...' (Matthew 5:9).
SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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TERROR THREAT RISING IN INDONESIA
With Islamic State (IS) urging its followers to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic to attack infidels and apostates, Indonesia's IS-aligned jihadists have escalated their terrorist rhetoric and activity. While these groups are small and Indonesian forces have been very effective in containing them, only one bomber needs to slip through the net to cause horrendous damage. Over the last month, Indonesian counter-terrorism forces have made numerous arrests and confiscated large quantities of weapons and ammunition from IS-aligned jihadist cells plotting terror. The threat level is raised, especially in Java - from Banten in the west to Surabaya in the east - as well as in Central Sulawesi, specifically in and around the majority Christian Poso Regency. The threat level is especially high for Indonesia's Chinese community, which is some 40 percent Christian. Please pray.
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RAMADAN: 24 April - Saturday 23 May (Eid al-Fitr)
RLPB recommends: 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World
https://www.30daysprayer.com/
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She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).
See www.ElizabethKendal.com
