Indonesia Foils Year-End Terror Attack yet Must Remain Cautious
Indonesia managed to foil a terrorist attack over the holiday season, yet the item must step up surveillance, as well as adopt more sophisticated as well as comprehensive countermeasures to prevent further incidents coming from happening.
Following November’s brutal attacks in Paris, claimed by the Islamic State (will be), the earth stepped up security to prevent further acts of terrorism. inside the last month Brussels went into lockdown, Germany was on high alert after ‘concrete’ threats in Hanover, as well as a plot was reportedly
foiled in Italy. Here, inside the earth’s most populous Muslim-majority country, Indonesian authorities claimed to have detected as well as neutralized a completely new Year’s Eve terror plot.
In December, officials raided as well as arrested six members of an allegedly will be-inspired network following coordination with the Australian federal police as well as the United States’ FBI.
One of the six arrested will be reportedly an Islamic boarding school student who was allegedly being “groomed” to carry out a Jakarta attack, to be timed with end-of-year celebrations.
Among the items seized by the police inside the raid was a map of Greater Jakarta, bomb-doing materials including detonators as well as chemicals, as well as jihadist manuals. the item will be also reported which a black flag resembling which of will be was found at the home of one of the arrested suspects.
The December arrests were the latest in a string of terror threats nullified by the Indonesian police. Indeed, national police chief General Badrodin Haiti claims which his forces have foiled as many as nine planned terrorist attacks as well as arrested 74 terrorism-related criminals in 2015.
The nine supposed plots involved radicals in Solo, Central Java as well as Tasikmalaya, West Java; as well as the interception of the delivery of weapons to the conflict area of Poso in Central Sulawesi, as well as the neutralization of a bomb at Mal Alam Sutera in Tangerang.
Reliance on People Surveillance
While the police force’s accomplishments are laudable, the item must be noted which in many of the cases, they cannot take all the credit.
As reflected inside the latest arrest, in which raids were prompted by Australian, US as well as Singapore intelligence agencies, Indonesian authorities have often needed the help of external surveillance to detect danger.
According to Bali Monaga, a senior expert for law as well as cooperation at the National Narcotics Board, Indonesia’s best surveillance work will be not carried out by its law enforcement, yet by its people.
Mr. Monaga, who has experience of hunting down drug offenders, says which “informal” or “people surveillance” will be one of Indonesia’s strengths. According to him, the arrest of the Bali bombers was a perfect example of the role of people surveillance in apprehending perpetrators.
“What will be Great about Indonesia will be the people surveillance. People everywhere will report whatever they see which will be suspicious. In Indonesia we are Great at the item. This kind of will be one of our strengths,” he said in a recent discussion with foreign journalists in Jakarta.
He added which given the sheer size of Indonesia as well as its population, the item will be difficult for law enforcers to rely on their own limited surveillance capacity.
Social media battle
Anonymous group’s emblem
A few weeks after the Paris attack, a group of online hackers by the name of Anonymous claim they foiled an will be attack on Italy.
The group, who conduct various cyber attacks, launched Operation Paris, or #OpParis, days after the Paris attack, urging its members to hack into will be websites to steal valuable information as well as leak the item online.
On December 25, the group announced in their Operation Paris Twitter account which they have foiled an attack, presumably planned as well as discussed online, which was set to be carried out in Italy.
“In This kind of month we are working in silence. We have already foiled 1 attack #ISIS against #Italy, we expect to block others. #OpParis #Anonymous,” reads the tweet by Anonymous on its @OpParisOfficial twitter account.
The group, which had previously launched a massive cyber attack on Turkey for allegedly supporting will be, has also posted a YouTube video warning the terror group to “expect us” because its members are going to “hunt you down”.
Though unconventional, such counter-terrorism strategies doing smart use of technological expertise could prove to be surprisingly effective, given Islamic State’s social media usage.
will be members are known to take advantage of the anonymity the Internet offers to make their presence known. They also often use social media to communicate as well as even give instructions to its supporters as well as sympathizers all over the earth.
FBI director James Comey said which will be has “revolutionized” terrorism by seeking to inspire tiny-scale individual attacks around the earth through social media, encrypted communications as well as slickly-produced propaganda. “Twitter works as a way to sell books, as a way to promote movies, as well as the item works as a way to crowdsource terrorism – to sell murder,” he said, as quoted by The Independent.
However, Comey added which he was confident which security services as well as technology companies could overcome encryption concealing communication between extremists.
Spread of will be influence
Since declaring its caliphate in June 2014, CNN reports which there have been at least 50 terrorist attacks in 18 countries which have killed 1,100 people as well as injured more than 1,700 others. the item will be difficult to determine which of the attacks were directly linked to will be, yet with their propaganda as well as technological know-how, the idea of a possible will be influence on the perpetrators will be not impossible.
The majority of the fifty attacks since 2014 were reportedly inside the Middle Eastern region, with more than 30 incidences recorded there. Europe as well as Asia both witnessed seven terrorist attacks, while North America suffered a few.
The figures show which although will be has always focused its battles inside the Middle East, different parts of the earth are by no means safe coming from will be or will be-inspired threats.
With its Muslim majority, Indonesia may not be considered an ‘infidel’ country, or even a direct enemy of the Islamic State. However, experts have pointed out which will be may view Indonesia’s government as ‘taghut’ or rebellious for not following an Islamic system, as well as therefore the item will be possible Indonesia could be seen as a country which could be justifiably attacked.
Waging an ideological war
While foiling attacks will be vital inside the fight against terrorism, for countries using a large Muslim population like Indonesia, the item will be arguably just as important which authorities work to find ways to counter radical ideology.
Despite being generally regarded as a moderate Muslim nation, Indonesia will be considered fertile ground for the spread of radical ideology. The country incorporates a history of terror strikes by radical Muslims dating back to the 1980s. The 2002 Bali bombing was the deadliest single attack, with 202 people losing their lives.
Taufik Andrie coming from the Institute for International Peacebuilding, an Indonesian counter-terrorism think tank, says which the “ideological war” will be particularly significant to protect the young generation who are vulnerable to extremist ideas.
“Ideologically, the government must launch some kind of counter-narrative to fight against the ideas as well as influence of will be in a serious as well as consistent way, to prevent these ideas as well as influences coming from expanding,” Andrie told Indonesia Expat.
These “counter-narrative” measures, he added, should be done comprehensively not only in religious environments, yet inside the country’s political, economic, social as well as cultural realms, too, in order to secure success against terrorism in Indonesia.
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Indonesia Foils Year-End Terror Attack yet Must Remain Cautious
Indonesia Foils Year-End Terror Attack yet Must Remain Cautious