Jemaah Islamiyah
Encyclopedia
Jemaah Islamiah is a Southeast Asia
n militant Islamic organization dedicated to the establishment of a Daulah Islamiyah (regional Islamic caliphate) in Southeast Asia
incorporating Indonesia
, Malaysia, the southern Philippines
, Singapore
and Brunei
. JI was added to the United Nations
1267 Committee's list of terrorist organizations linked to al-Qaeda
or the Taliban on 25 October 2002 under UN Security Council Resolution 1267.
JI has its roots in Darul Islam (DI, meaning "House of Islam"), a radical Islamist/anti-colonialist movement in Indonesia
in the 1940s. The JI was formally founded on January 1, 1993, by JI leaders, Abu Bakar Bashir
and Abdullah Sungkar
while hiding in Malaysia from the persecution of the Suharto government. After the fall of the Suharto regime in 1998, both men returned to Indonesia where JI gained a terrorist edge when one of its founders, the late Abdullah Sungkar
, established contact with Osama Bin Laden
's al-Qaeda
network.
JI’s violent operations began during the communal conflicts in Maluku
and Poso
. It shifted its attention to targeting US and Western interests in Indonesia and the wider Southeast Asian region since the start of the US-led war on terror
. JI’s terror plans in Southeast Asia were exposed when its plot to set off several bombs in Singapore
was foiled by the local authorities.
Recruiting, training, indoctrination, financial and operational links between the JI and other militant groups, such as al-Qaeda
, the Abu Sayyaf
Group (ASG), the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF), the Misuari Renegade/Breakaway Group (MRG/MBG) and the Philippine Rajah Sulaiman movement (RSM) have existed for many years, and continue to this day.
Prior to the first Bali bombing, there was underestimation to the threat Jemaah Islamiah posed Jemaah Islamiah is known to have killed hundreds of civilian
s in the first Bali car bombing on October 12, 2002. In the attack, suicide bombers
killed 202 people and wounded many in two blasts. The first, smaller blast by a suicide bomber using a backpack, killed a small number of people in a nightclub
and drove the survivors into the street, where the vast majority were killed by a massive fertilizer/fuel oil bomb concealed in a parked van. After this attack, the U.S. State Department
designated Jemaah Islamiah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization
. Jemaah Islamiah is also strongly suspected of carrying out the 2003 JW Marriott hotel bombing in Kuningan, Jakarta, the 2004 Australian embassy bombing
in Jakarta, the 2005 Bali terrorist bombing
and the 2009 JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotel bombings. The Bali and JW Marriott attacks showed that JI did not rule out attacking the same target more than once. The JI also has been directly and indirectly involved in dozens of bombings in the southern Philippines
, usually in league with the ASG.
However, most of Jemaah Islamiah prominent figures such as Hambali, Abu Dujana
, Azahari Husin
, Noordin Top and Dulmatin
have either been captured or killed, mostly by Indonesian anti-terrorist squad, Detachment 88. While several of its former leaders, including Malaysian jihadist and Afghanistan War
veteran Nasir Abbas
, have renounced violence and even assisted the Indonesian and Malaysian governments in the war on terrorism. Nasir Abbas was Noordin Top's former superior.
, Abdullah Sungkar
and Shahrul Nizam 'PD' began an operation to propagate the Darul Islam movement, a conservative strain of Islam
.
Bashir and Sungkar were both imprisoned by the New Order administration
of Indonesian president Suharto as part of a crackdown on radical groups such as Komando Jihad
, that were perceived to undermine the government's control over the Indonesian population. The two leaders spent several years in prison. After release, Bashir and his followers moved to Malaysia in 1982. They recruited people from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore
, and the Philippines
. The group officially named itself Jemaah Islamiah around that time period.
Back in Southeast Asia, the members of JI distributed pamphlets. Bashir preached jihad
but he would do very little violent action. This changed in the 1990s. Bashir met Riduan Isamuddin
, a.k.a. Hambali, sometime in the early 1990s at a religious school that Bashir set up. Bashir became the spiritual leader of the organization while Hambali became the military leader. Unlike the Al-Mau'nah
group, Jemaah Islamiah kept a low profile in Malaysia and their existence was publicized only after the 2002 Bali bombings.
In 2003, Indonesian police confirmed 'the existence of Mantiqe IV "-the JI regional cell" which covers Irian Jaya and Australia." Indonesian police saya Muklas has identified Mantiqe IV's leader as Abdul Rahim -an Indonesian born Australian'.
Indonesian investigators revealed the JI's establishment of an assassination squad in April 2007, which was established to target top leaders who oppose the group's objectives, as well as other officials, including police officers, government prosecutors and judges handling terrorism-related cases.
In April 2008, the South Jakarta District Court declared JI an illegal organisation when sentencing former leader Zarkasih and military commander Abu Dujana to 15 years on terrorism charges.
In 2010, Indonesian authorities cracked down on the Jemaah Islamiah network in Aceh. Between February and May 2010, more than 60 militants were captured. This Aceh network was established by Dulmatin
sometime after 2007 when he returned to Indonesia.
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
n militant Islamic organization dedicated to the establishment of a Daulah Islamiyah (regional Islamic caliphate) in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
incorporating Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Malaysia, the southern Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...
. JI was added to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
1267 Committee's list of terrorist organizations linked to al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
or the Taliban on 25 October 2002 under UN Security Council Resolution 1267.
JI has its roots in Darul Islam (DI, meaning "House of Islam"), a radical Islamist/anti-colonialist movement in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
in the 1940s. The JI was formally founded on January 1, 1993, by JI leaders, Abu Bakar Bashir
Abu Bakar Bashir
Abu Bakar Bashir Abu Bakar Bashir Abu Bakar Bashir (also Abubakar Ba'asyir, Abdus Somad, and Ustad Abu ("Teacher Abu"), born 17 August 1938, is an Indonesian Muslim cleric and leader of the Indonesian Mujahedeen Council (MMI)....
and Abdullah Sungkar
Abdullah Sungkar
Abdullah Sungkar founded and led Jemaah Islamiyah, an Islamic terrorist and separatist organization. He was of Hadhrami Arab descent.-References:...
while hiding in Malaysia from the persecution of the Suharto government. After the fall of the Suharto regime in 1998, both men returned to Indonesia where JI gained a terrorist edge when one of its founders, the late Abdullah Sungkar
Abdullah Sungkar
Abdullah Sungkar founded and led Jemaah Islamiyah, an Islamic terrorist and separatist organization. He was of Hadhrami Arab descent.-References:...
, established contact with Osama Bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
's al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
network.
JI’s violent operations began during the communal conflicts in Maluku
Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone...
and Poso
Poso
Poso is the main port and transportation hub for the northeastern coast of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Its geographical location is .Poso is one of ten regencies in Central Sulawesi Province, located exactly in the middle of the province on the shore of the gulf of Tomini, right in the central...
. It shifted its attention to targeting US and Western interests in Indonesia and the wider Southeast Asian region since the start of the US-led war on terror
War on Terrorism
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
. JI’s terror plans in Southeast Asia were exposed when its plot to set off several bombs in Singapore
Singapore embassies attack plot
The Singapore embassies attack plot was a plan in 2001 by Jemaah Islamiyah to bomb the diplomatic missions and attack personnel of the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Israel based in Singapore. There were also several other targets. The plot was uncovered in December 2001 and as...
was foiled by the local authorities.
Recruiting, training, indoctrination, financial and operational links between the JI and other militant groups, such as al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
, the Abu Sayyaf
Abu Sayyaf
Abu Sayyaf also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya is one of several military Islamist separatist groups based in and around the southern Philippines, in Bangsamoro where for almost 30 years various Muslim groups have been engaged in an insurgency for an independent province in the country...
Group (ASG), the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
Moro Islamic Liberation Front
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front is an Islamist group located in the southern Philippines. It is one of two Islamic militant groups, the other being the Abu Sayyaf, that are fighting against Government of the Philippines...
(MILF), the Misuari Renegade/Breakaway Group (MRG/MBG) and the Philippine Rajah Sulaiman movement (RSM) have existed for many years, and continue to this day.
Prior to the first Bali bombing, there was underestimation to the threat Jemaah Islamiah posed Jemaah Islamiah is known to have killed hundreds of civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
s in the first Bali car bombing on October 12, 2002. In the attack, suicide bombers
Suicide attack
A suicide attack is a type of attack in which the attacker expects or intends to die in the process.- Historical :...
killed 202 people and wounded many in two blasts. The first, smaller blast by a suicide bomber using a backpack, killed a small number of people in a nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
and drove the survivors into the street, where the vast majority were killed by a massive fertilizer/fuel oil bomb concealed in a parked van. After this attack, the U.S. State Department
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
designated Jemaah Islamiah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization
U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations
"Foreign Terrorist Organization" is a designation of non-United States-based organizations declared terrorist by the United States Secretary of State in accordance with section 219 of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act...
. Jemaah Islamiah is also strongly suspected of carrying out the 2003 JW Marriott hotel bombing in Kuningan, Jakarta, the 2004 Australian embassy bombing
2004 Jakarta embassy bombing
The 2004 Australian embassy bombing took place on 9 September 2004 in Jakarta, Indonesia.A one-tonne car bomb, which was packed into a small Daihatsu delivery van, exploded outside the Australian embassy at Kuningan District, South Jakarta, at about 10:30 local time , killing 9 people including...
in Jakarta, the 2005 Bali terrorist bombing
2005 Bali bombings
The 2005 Bali bombings were a series of terrorist suicide bomb and a series of car bombs and attacks that occurred on October 1, 2005, in Bali, Indonesia. Bombs exploded at two sites in Jimbaran Beach Resort and in Kuta away, both in south Bali. The terrorist attack claimed the lives of 20 people...
and the 2009 JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotel bombings. The Bali and JW Marriott attacks showed that JI did not rule out attacking the same target more than once. The JI also has been directly and indirectly involved in dozens of bombings in the southern Philippines
Regions of the Philippines
In the Philippines, regions are administrative divisions that serve primarily to organize the provinces of the country for administrative convenience. Currently, the archipelagic republic of the Philippines is divided into 17 regions...
, usually in league with the ASG.
However, most of Jemaah Islamiah prominent figures such as Hambali, Abu Dujana
Abu Dujana
Abu Dujana Simak bin Kharasha was a sahaba and a skilled swordsman who is mentioned in Hadith narrations from the six major Hadith collections of Sunni Islam.-Skilled in melee combat:...
, Azahari Husin
Azahari Husin
Dr. Azahari bin Husin was a Malaysian who was believed to be the technical mastermind behind the 2002 Bali bombing. He was killed in a police raid on his hideout in Indonesia in 2005. He was nicknamed the "Demolition Man".-History:He received extensive bomb training in Afghanistan...
, Noordin Top and Dulmatin
Dulmatin
Dulmatin was a senior figure in the militant group Jemaah Islamiyah and one of the most wanted terrorists in Southeast Asia....
have either been captured or killed, mostly by Indonesian anti-terrorist squad, Detachment 88. While several of its former leaders, including Malaysian jihadist and Afghanistan War
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
veteran Nasir Abbas
Nasir Abbas
Allama Nasir Abbas was once one of the most wanted Pakistani jihadists in South East Asia. He was a member of al-Qaeda's regional affiliate, Jemaah Islamiya ....
, have renounced violence and even assisted the Indonesian and Malaysian governments in the war on terrorism. Nasir Abbas was Noordin Top's former superior.
History
The JI was established as a loose confederation of several Islamic groups. Sometime around 1969, three men, Abu Bakar BashirAbu Bakar Bashir
Abu Bakar Bashir Abu Bakar Bashir Abu Bakar Bashir (also Abubakar Ba'asyir, Abdus Somad, and Ustad Abu ("Teacher Abu"), born 17 August 1938, is an Indonesian Muslim cleric and leader of the Indonesian Mujahedeen Council (MMI)....
, Abdullah Sungkar
Abdullah Sungkar
Abdullah Sungkar founded and led Jemaah Islamiyah, an Islamic terrorist and separatist organization. He was of Hadhrami Arab descent.-References:...
and Shahrul Nizam 'PD' began an operation to propagate the Darul Islam movement, a conservative strain of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
.
Bashir and Sungkar were both imprisoned by the New Order administration
New Order (Indonesia)
The New Order is the term coined by former Indonesian President Suharto to characterize his regime as he came to power in 1966. Suharto used this term to contrast his rule with that of his predecessor, Sukarno...
of Indonesian president Suharto as part of a crackdown on radical groups such as Komando Jihad
Komando Jihad
Komando Jihad was an Indonesian Islamic extremist group that existed from the 1970s until it was dissolved through the actions of the security services in the mid 1980s...
, that were perceived to undermine the government's control over the Indonesian population. The two leaders spent several years in prison. After release, Bashir and his followers moved to Malaysia in 1982. They recruited people from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. The group officially named itself Jemaah Islamiah around that time period.
Back in Southeast Asia, the members of JI distributed pamphlets. Bashir preached jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
but he would do very little violent action. This changed in the 1990s. Bashir met Riduan Isamuddin
Riduan Isamuddin
Riduan Isamuddin also transliterated as Riduan Isamudin, Riduan Isomuddin, and Riduan Isomudin, better known by the nom de guerre Hambali, born as Encep Nurjaman, born April 4, 1964 is the former military leader of the Indonesian terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiyah , which is linked with Al...
, a.k.a. Hambali, sometime in the early 1990s at a religious school that Bashir set up. Bashir became the spiritual leader of the organization while Hambali became the military leader. Unlike the Al-Mau'nah
Al-Mau'nah
The Al-Ma'unah was a militant terrorist group based in Malaysia. The group was made famous by their audacious raid on 2 July 2000 on a Malaysian Army Reserve camp in the early hours of the morning and stealing weapons from the armoury...
group, Jemaah Islamiah kept a low profile in Malaysia and their existence was publicized only after the 2002 Bali bombings.
In 2003, Indonesian police confirmed 'the existence of Mantiqe IV "-the JI regional cell" which covers Irian Jaya and Australia." Indonesian police saya Muklas has identified Mantiqe IV's leader as Abdul Rahim -an Indonesian born Australian'.
Indonesian investigators revealed the JI's establishment of an assassination squad in April 2007, which was established to target top leaders who oppose the group's objectives, as well as other officials, including police officers, government prosecutors and judges handling terrorism-related cases.
In April 2008, the South Jakarta District Court declared JI an illegal organisation when sentencing former leader Zarkasih and military commander Abu Dujana to 15 years on terrorism charges.
In 2010, Indonesian authorities cracked down on the Jemaah Islamiah network in Aceh. Between February and May 2010, more than 60 militants were captured. This Aceh network was established by Dulmatin
Dulmatin
Dulmatin was a senior figure in the militant group Jemaah Islamiyah and one of the most wanted terrorists in Southeast Asia....
sometime after 2007 when he returned to Indonesia.
Timeline
- August 1, 2000, Jemaah Islamiah attempted to assassinate the PhilippinePhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
ambassador to IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Leonides Caday. The bomb detonated as his car entered his official residence in central JakartaJakartaJakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
killing two people and injuring 21 others, including the ambassador. - September 13, 2000, a car bomb explosion tore through a packed parking deck beneath the Jakarta Stock ExchangeJakarta Stock ExchangeJakarta Stock Exchange or in Indonesian Bursa Efek Jakarta was a stock exchange based in Jakarta, Indonesia, before it merged with the Surabaya Stock Exchange to form the Indonesian Stock Exchange.-History:...
building killing 15 people and injuring 20. - December 24, 2000, JI took part in a major coordinated terror strike, the Christmas Eve 2000 bombingsChristmas Eve 2000 Indonesia terror attacksOn Christmas Eve, 2000, a series of explosions took place in Indonesia, which were part of a high-scale terrorist attack by Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah...
. - December 30, 2000, a series of bombings that occurred around Metro Manila in the Philippines, 22 died and over a hundred were injured. In the following years, several members of the Jemaah Islamiah for their suspected involvement in the bombings.
- March 12, 2000, 3 JI members are arrested in ManilaManilaManila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
carrying plastic explosives in their luggage. One of them is later jailed for 17 years. - June 5, 2002, Indonesian authorities arrest Kuwaiti Omar al-FaruqOmar al-FaruqOmar al-Faruq was a Kuwaiti of Iraqi descent, and a senior al-Qaeda member. He was a liaison between al-Qaeda and Islamic terrorists in the Far East, particularly Jemaah Islamiyah. He was captured in Bogor, Indonesia in 2002 by an Indonesian security agent who handed him over to the United States...
. Handed over to the U.S.United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
authorities, he subsequently confesses he is a senior al-Qaeda operative sent to Southeast AsiaSoutheast AsiaSoutheast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
to orchestrate attacks against US interests. He reveals to investigators detailed plans of a new terror spree in Southeast Asia. - After many warnings by US authorities of a credible terrorist threat in Jakarta, on September 23, 2002 a grenade explodes in a car near the residence of a US embassy official in Jakarta, killing one of the attackers.
- September 26, 2002, the US State Department issued a travel warningTravel warningA travel warning or a travel alert is a warning from the government of a country advising its citizen not to travel to a certain country or countries. In the US, travel warnings are issued by the State Department.- References :*...
urging AmericansUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and other Westerners in Indonesia to avoid locations such as bars, restaurants and tourist areas. - October 2, 2002, a US Soldier and two Filipinos are killed in a JI nail-bomb attack outside a bar in the southern Philippine city of ZamboangaZamboanga CityThe City of Zamboanga : is a highly urbanized, independent and a chartered city located in Mindanao, Philippines....
- October 10, 2002, a bomb rips through a bus terminal in the southern Philippine city of Kidapawan, killing six people and injuring 24. On the same day The US ambassador in Jakarta, Ralph Boyce, personally delivers to the Indonesian President a message of growing concern that Americans could become targets of terrorist actions in her country.
- October 12, 2002, on the second anniversary of the USS Cole bombingUSS Cole bombingThe USS Cole Bombing, or the USS Cole Incident, was a suicide attack against the United States Navy destroyer on October 12, 2000 while it was harbored and refueled in the Yemeni port of Aden. Seventeen American sailors were killed, and 39 were injured...
in YemenYemenThe Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
, a huge car bomb kills more than 202 and injures 300 on the Indonesian resort island of BaliBaliBali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
. Most are foreigners, mainly Australian tourists. It is preceded by a blast at the US consulate in nearby DenpasarDenpasarDenpasar is the capital city of the province of Bali, Indonesia. It has a rapidly expanding population of 788,445 in 2010, up from 533,252 in the previous decade. It is located at .-History:...
. The attack known as the 2002 Bali Bombing2002 Bali bombingThe 2002 Bali bombings occurred on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attack was claimed as the deadliest act of terrorism in the history of Indonesia according to the current police general, killing 202 people,...
is the most deadly attack executed by JI to date. - Bashir was arrested by the Indonesian police and was given a light sentence for treasonTreasonIn law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
. - Hambali was arrested in ThailandThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
on August 11, 2003, and is currently in prison in JordanJordanJordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, according to HaaretzHaaretzHaaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
. - A bomb manual published by the Jemaah Islamiah was used in the 2002 Bali terrorist bombing and the 2003 JW Marriott hotel bombing.
- A BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-born AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n named Jack RocheJack RocheJack Roche or 'Jihad Jack' as he has been labelled is an Australian convicted on a charge of conspiring to commit an offence provided for by the Crimes Act 1976, namely intent to endanger the lives of Israeli diplomats in Canberra, Australia.A Muslim convert, Roche was convicted of conspiring to...
confessed to being part of a JI plot to blow up the IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i embassy in CanberraCanberraCanberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Australia on 28 May 2004. He was sentenced to 9 years in prison on 31 May. The man admitted to meeting figures like Osama bin LadenOsama bin LadenOsama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
in AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. - JI are widely suspected of being responsible for the bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta on September 9, 2004, which killed 11 Indonesians and wounded over 160 more.
- They are also suspected of committing the October 1st 2005 Bali bombings2005 Bali bombingsThe 2005 Bali bombings were a series of terrorist suicide bomb and a series of car bombs and attacks that occurred on October 1, 2005, in Bali, Indonesia. Bombs exploded at two sites in Jimbaran Beach Resort and in Kuta away, both in south Bali. The terrorist attack claimed the lives of 20 people...
. - November 9, 2005, bomb-making expert and influential figure in Indonesian terrorist organization, Azahari HusinAzahari HusinDr. Azahari bin Husin was a Malaysian who was believed to be the technical mastermind behind the 2002 Bali bombing. He was killed in a police raid on his hideout in Indonesia in 2005. He was nicknamed the "Demolition Man".-History:He received extensive bomb training in Afghanistan...
was killed in a raid at MalangMalangMalang is the second largest city in East Java province, Indonesia. It has an ancient history dating back to the Mataram Kingdom. The city population at the 2010 Census was 819,708. During the period of Dutch colonization, it was a popular destination for European residents. The city is famous for...
, East JavaEast JavaEast Java is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the eastern part of the island of Java and includes neighboring Madura and islands to its east and to its north East Java is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the eastern part of the island of Java and includes neighboring Madura and...
. - August 5, 2006, Al-Qaeda's Al Zawahiri appeared on a recorded video announcing that JI and Al-Qaeda had joined forces and that the two groups will form "one line, facing its enemies."
- June 13, 2007, Abu DujanaAbu Dujana (Jemaah Islamiah)Abu Dujana was the military leader of Jemaah Islamiah from 2005 until June 2007 when he was arrested.As of December 2007, he is facing trial in Jakarta on terrorism-related charges...
, the head of JI's military operations, is captured by Indonesian police. - June 15, 2007, Indonesian police announced the capture of ZarkasihZarkasihZarkasih was the leader of Jemaah Islamiah , a South East Asian militant group, from 2004 until July 2007 when he was captured. Zarkasih goes by a single name and other aliases including Nuaim, Mbah, Abu Irsyad...
, who was leading Jemaah Islamiah since the capture of Hambali. Zarkasih is believe to be the emir of JI. - February 27, 2008, the leader of JI in SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Mas Selamat bin KastariMas Selamat bin KastariMas Selamat bin Kastari , an Indonesian-born Singaporean, was for more than a year Singapore's most-wanted fugitive after escaping from detention on 27 February 2008. The search for him has been described as the largest manhunt ever launched in Singapore...
, escaped from the Whitley Road Detention Centre. - April 1, 2009, Mas Selamat bin Kastari was recaptured in JohorJohorJohor is a Malaysian state, located in the southern portion of Peninsular Malaysia. It is one of the most developed states in Malaysia. The state capital city and royal city of Johor is Johor Bahru, formerly known as Tanjung Puteri...
, Malaysia. - July 17, 2009, Jemaah Islamiah blamed for attacks on the Ritz Carlton Jakarta and the J.W. Marriott hotels in Jakarta.
- September 17, 2009, Noordin Top was killed in a raid by Indonesian police in Solo, Central Java. Top was a recruiter, bomb maker, and explosions expert for Jemaah Islamiyah. However, later on his colleagues in Jemaah Islamiah claimed that Noordin had formed his own splinter cell which was even more violent and militant. He was for a while dubbed the 'most wanted Islamic militant in South East Asia'.
- March 9, 2010, DulmatinDulmatinDulmatin was a senior figure in the militant group Jemaah Islamiyah and one of the most wanted terrorists in Southeast Asia....
was killed in a raid by Detasemen khusus 88 in PamulangPamulangPamulang is a subdistrict in the city of South Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia. The population is 174,500....
, South Jakarta - December 13, 2010, Indonesian police charged Abu Bakar BashirAbu Bakar BashirAbu Bakar Bashir Abu Bakar Bashir Abu Bakar Bashir (also Abubakar Ba'asyir, Abdus Somad, and Ustad Abu ("Teacher Abu"), born 17 August 1938, is an Indonesian Muslim cleric and leader of the Indonesian Mujahedeen Council (MMI)....
, spiritual head of Jemaah Islamiyah, with involvement in plans of terror and military training in Aceh province. The charge against him of inciting others to commit terrorism carries the death penalty.
See also
- 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing2003 Marriott Hotel bombingThe 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing occurred on 5 August 2003 in Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta, Indonesia. A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the lobby of the JW Marriott Hotel, killing twelve people and injuring 150. All those killed were Indonesian with the exception of one Dutch...
- 2004 Jakarta embassy bombing2004 Jakarta embassy bombingThe 2004 Australian embassy bombing took place on 9 September 2004 in Jakarta, Indonesia.A one-tonne car bomb, which was packed into a small Daihatsu delivery van, exploded outside the Australian embassy at Kuningan District, South Jakarta, at about 10:30 local time , killing 9 people including...
- 2005 Bali bombings2005 Bali bombingsThe 2005 Bali bombings were a series of terrorist suicide bomb and a series of car bombs and attacks that occurred on October 1, 2005, in Bali, Indonesia. Bombs exploded at two sites in Jimbaran Beach Resort and in Kuta away, both in south Bali. The terrorist attack claimed the lives of 20 people...
- 2005 Indonesian beheading of Christian girls
- Azahari HusinAzahari HusinDr. Azahari bin Husin was a Malaysian who was believed to be the technical mastermind behind the 2002 Bali bombing. He was killed in a police raid on his hideout in Indonesia in 2005. He was nicknamed the "Demolition Man".-History:He received extensive bomb training in Afghanistan...
- Islamist terrorism
- List of terrorist organisations
Further reading
- Abuza, Zachary. Militant Islam in Southeast Asia: Crucible of Terror. Boulder, Colorado, USA: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2003. ISBN 1-58826-237-5.
- Atran, Scott (2010). Talking to the Enemy: Faith, Brotherhood, and the (Un)Making of Terrorists. New York: Ecco Press / HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0061344909.
- Barton, Greg (2005). Jemaah Islamiyah: radical Islam in Indonesia. Singapore: Singapore University Press. ISBN 9971-69-323-2.
- Lim, Merlyna. Islamic Radicalism and Anti-Americanism in Indonesia: The Role of the Internet. Washington: East-West Center, 2005. ISBN 978-1-932728-34-7.
- Reeve, Simon. The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama Bin Laden and the Future of Terrorism. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1999. ISBN 1-55553-509-7.
- Ressa, Maria. Seeds of Terror: An Eyewitness Account of Al-Qaeda's Newest Center of Operations in Southeast Asia. New York: Free Press, 2003. ISBN 0-7432-5133-4.
External links
- Jemaah Islamiah in South East Asia: Damaged but Still Dangerous - International Crisis GroupInternational Crisis GroupThe International Crisis Group is an international, non-profit, non-governmental organization whose mission is to prevent and resolve deadly conflicts around the world through field-based analyses and high-level advocacy.-History:...
report dated August 26, 2003 - Jemaah Islamiyah’s Publishing Industry - International Crisis Group report dated February 28, 2008
- Constructing” the Jemaah Islamiyah Terrorist: A Preliminary Inquiry (PDFPortable Document FormatPortable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
) - Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Singapore, report dated October 2004 - Funding Terrorism in Southeast Asia: The Financial Network of Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah (PDFPortable Document FormatPortable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
) - National Bureau of Asian Research report dated December 2003 - cfrterrorism.org page on Jemaah Islamiah
- "Jemaah Islamiah still a threat" - BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
article dated August 15, 2003 - Jemaah Islamiyah Shown to Have Significant Ties to al Qaeda
- Learning by Doing:Al Qaeda's Allies in Southeast Asia
- Combating JI in Indonesia
- Terrorism Perpetrated and Terrorists Apprehended
- Council on Foreign Relations Backgrounder: Jemaah Islamiyah