Risk intelligence (16/06/2021) - Indonesia
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POLICE CONTINUE CRACKDOWN ON JEMAAH ISLAMIYAH NETWORK WITH ARRESTS IN RIAU
Police say that 13 individuals allegedly linked to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) who were detained during raids in Riau province on 14 June had harboured suspects wanted by police.
The men were arrested by the police special counterterrorism unit Densus 88 in Pekanbaru and Dumai cities as well as Kampar and Siak regencies.
National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Rusdi Hartono said that the men were responsible for harbouring JI members on the police wanted list (DPO). Hartono said that the men also provided a house for JI leader Para WIjayanto in the months prior to his arrest in Bekasi, West Java, in 2019.
Police also alleged that the men had participated in a training on how to use firearms and bladed weapons. Some had allegedly attended training on how to assemble bombs. The men also paid a monthly contribution to fund JI operations and training, and to provide assistance to members from other provinces seeking to hide in Riau.
Hartono said that the suspects are linked to dozens of JI members arrested in Lampung and East Java in December and January.
Hill & Associates Assessment
Jemaah Islamiyah continues to maintain a highly-structured network across Sumatra and Java despite the recent arrests of senior leaders. Densus 88 is continuing its operations in Riau amid reports that those detained this week had focused on recruiting new members.
Senior members of the JI network in Riau were believed to have provided a home for Noordin M. Top - the mastermind of the 2003 JW Marriott hotel bombing - in Rokan Hilir regency after the bombing. Police sources have not revealed if the recent arrests in Riau were related to any imminent threats.
Police are investigating links between the suspects and JI in East Java where more than 20 suspects were arrested in March last year over an attack plot and involvement in the establishment of a training ground with a program to create a jihadist group to fight in Medina.
By 2015, police estimated that JI had around 1,000 members who were each contributing IDR60,000 to its coffers each month. While pre-emptive arrests last year indicated that some JI members were planning attacks, authorities believe that the group’s leadership remains opposed to the use of violence. However, that approach may have led its more hard-line members to align themselves with Islamic State and the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) network.
JI’s goal is to build an Islamic caliphate in Indonesia which it aims to achieve by delivering sermons in villages and conducting religious outreach, where it can target youth with its propaganda.