Head of Public Relations Division of the National Police Headquarters Insp. Gen. Setyo Wasisto releases photographs of evidence found around the blast site in the Kampung Melayu terminal, East Jakarta, Thursday (25/5).
The bomb attack in Kampung Melayu, Jakarta, on Wednesday (24/5/2017) night, which is alleged to have been a suicide bombing, resulted in the death of three police officers. The police suspect a link between the attack’s two perpetrators and the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah group that was behind the pressure cooker bomb attack in Cicendo, Bandung, West Java, in late February. If this is the case, the Kampung Melayu attack can be seen as just the most recent stage in the rational evolution of a terror movement.
The Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), which was included in the US Department of State’s Foreign Terrorist Organization in January 2017, was also behind the Thamrin bomb attack in Jakarta in January 2016 and the Oikumene Church in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, in November 2016.
Since its establishment in 2015, JAD has gathered members of the splinters of other extreme groups. These include the splinter groups of the Eastern Indonesian Mujahidin (MIT), which was led by the late Santoso, splinter groups of Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), which was established by terror convict Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, and elements of the group led by Aman Abdurahman, who is now behind bars.
Such splinter groups have been cropping up since the Bali bombing in 2002, which was conducted by a Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) splinter group. The difference nowadays is that the process of splintering and consolidating or forming new elements are more dynamic.
Thrust
Terrorism researcher Martha Crenshaw in her book Explaining Terrorism (2011) emphasizes that terrorism is a collective form of rationality of those with limited capability – but with a lofty political goal – that attacks those with a larger capacity. In line with this sentiment, Colin S Gray in War, Peace and International Relations: An Introduction to Strategic History (2007) said that terror is a rationally-chosen tactic.
Therefore, all acts of terror are derived from rational thinking, including their evolving strategy. This evolution of this strategy of terror can be seen in the determining of attack methods, the seeking of legitimacy and the choosing of targets or victims. If so, what pushes a group or element of terror to evolve? In Crenshaw’s analysis, this evolutional thrust can be derived from three factors, namely policy or the acts of a government and its apparatus, social changes and financial support and technological advancements.
In terms of global social changes, the emergence of the Islamic State (IS) may have encouraged the phenomenon of terror splinter groups. All members of an existing terror group may not wholeheartedly agree with IS’ acts. However, just because they do not agree with the IS, it does not necessarily mean that they are not dangerous.
Some former JI members, for instance, do not agree with IS and choose to side with another terror group Jabhat al-Nusra. The Syrian conflict is an opportunity for JI member to obtain military training. Since 2013, JI has sent at least five individuals to Syria to take part in military training. In its report in April 2017, the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict has warned that JI, which is believed to have perished, may potentially reemerge as a “neo-JI”.
Phenomenon of intolerance
Evolution is also triggered by social changes. The mushrooming of intolerance phenomenon based on ethnicity, religion, race and inter group relations (SARA), for instance, can be a legitimate public foundation for a terror attacks. That there have been allegations, for instance, that the terror act in Kampung Melayu is merely an engineered diversion is a sign of growing public legitimacy.
Therefore, the growing phenomenon of intolerance among the people is a highly serious issue. It may not only lead to social divisions but can also lead to approval for acts of terror.
