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Indonesia on alert for copycat attacks after Moscow shooting

2024-03-26 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-亚洲原网页

JAKARTA - Indonesia is on alert for terrorists who might be motivated by the recent deadly shooting in Russia to conduct attacks in the archipelago, the government said.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Hadi Tjahjanto said in a press conference on March 25 that the government was monitoring both groups and individuals who could stage similar attacks, including self-radicalised lone wolves.

In what has been the deadliest attack in Russia in two decades, four men burst into the Crocus City Hall near Moscow on the night of March 22 during a concert, killing more than 130 people and injuring over 100 others.

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Following the incident, the Indonesian authorities stepped up their monitoring of potential terror networks, said Mr Hadi. He added that agencies involved included his ministry, the National Counter-terrorism Agency (BNPT), the State Intelligence Agency and the anti-terror police force Densus 88.

BNPT head Rycko Amelza, who was present at the press conference, said that on social media, there were still people supporting the actions of terrorists.

His agency has been trying to detect and stamp out radical propaganda, and he called for more sharing of intelligence among different security agencies in Indonesia.

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“There are (terrorist) cells all over the world, but these cells are ideological cells. How do we fight this ideology? With knowledge, we have to share knowledge,” said Mr Rycko, referring to intelligence on terror networks in Indonesia.

Indonesia has a history of copycat attacks, said Mr Muh Taufiqurrohman, a senior researcher at Jakarta-based think-tank Centre for Radicalism and Deradicalisation Studies.

Citing the Boston Marathon attack in 2013 that killed three people and injured more than 260 others, he said the attackers had used bombs made from pressure cookers with wires attached and connected to a mobile phone.

The attack inspired pro-ISIS militants in Indonesia to use the same tactic – pressure cooker bombs – in six attempted attacks on police officers and civilians, said Mr Taufiqurrohman.

These included the attack on a bus terminal in east Jakarta in 2017 that killed three policemen; a suicide bombing in a cathedral in Makassar, Sulawesi, in 2021 that killed the two attackers and wounded about 20 people; and most recently, a bombing at the Astana Anyar police station in Bandung in 2022 that killed two people.

“Based on the movement of suspected terrorists in the field (so far), we haven’t seen any real attack plan inspired by the Moscow attack,” he said.

However, this does not mean that copycat attacks will not occur, Mr Taufiqurrohman added, noting how Indonesian pro-ISIS militants on social media applauded the Moscow shooting, with many stating that it was part of the revenge on the Russian army for killing their brothers in Syria.

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Russia’s military started intervening in the ongoing Syrian civil war in September 2015, following a request for assistance from the Syrian government led by President Bashar al-Assad.

Dr Noor Huda Ismail, a visiting fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said that the shooting in Moscow could potentially serve as a trigger or inspiration for latent terrorists who are already ideologically aligned with extremist groups.

“The global nature of terrorism means that events in one part of the world can have reverberations elsewhere, and groups like ISIS and their supporters often seek to capitalise on such incidents to promote their agenda,” he said.