SINGAPORE: Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs on Saturday warned of the risk of “violent splinter cells” emerging in the near future following the dissolution of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group in Indonesia. The long-term impact of the organisation’s dissolution, however, remains to be seen, Channel News Asia reported, citing the MHA.
Singapore, a multi-ethnic city and hub of global multinationals, remains on high alert and on guard against terrorist activities in Southeast Asia, the ministry said, warning that the terrorist threat to Singapore remains high and the country continues to be a popular target for terrorists.
The department urged the public to be vigilant and promptly contact police or the Department of Homeland Security if they encounter suspicious persons or activities.
Indonesian terrorist group JI is behind some of Southeast Asia’s deadliest attacks, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people, the ministry said.
“For example, the JI’s radical ideologies, including the goal of establishing an Islamic caliphate in Southeast Asia through armed struggle, will likely continue to appeal to certain groups and individuals,” he added.
JI leaders in Indonesia announced the group’s disbandment at an event held by the Indonesian National Police’s counterterrorism team on June 30.
Welcoming the development, the Singapore government said the dissolution of JI in Indonesia is a “significant development and a major achievement” for the Indonesian authorities.
A video of the announcement, posted on the YouTube account of the radical Islamic website Arrahmah on July 3, shows 16 JI officials standing on a stage. They include Abu Rusdan, a militant cleric and former JI leader arrested in Bekasi in September 2021, and Para Wijayanto, who was arrested in 2019 on charges of recruiting militants and raising funds for Syria. Both remain in detention.
The dissolution was approved by the assembly of elders and leaders of Islamic boarding schools affiliated with the JI, Abu Rusdan said.
JI members agreed to return to the fold of the Republic of Indonesia and make changes to the curriculum of JI-affiliated schools so that there would no longer be materials teaching extremism.
The group was formed in 1993 by Abdullah Sungkar and Abu Bakar Bashir with the mission of building an Islamic state in Southeast Asia.
Abdullah died in 1999 while Abu Bakar was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2011 for funding militant training in Aceh. The 83-year-old was released in 2021 on humanitarian grounds.
Allegedly affiliated with al-Qaeda, the group was designated a banned organization by the Jakarta District Court in 2008 after several terrorist attacks by individuals acting on behalf of the group.
The JI has undergone several splits that gave rise to organizations founded by people dissatisfied with the decisions of its leaders. Abu Bakar Bashir himself left the JI and formed the Indonesian Mujahideen Council (MMI) in 2000 before resigning in 2008 after an internal conflict.
In 2017, the United States designated the MMI as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Group (SDGT) due to its alleged links to al-Qaeda and al-Nusra. The United States considers the group to pose a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism, although the MMI has denied any links to terrorist groups.
Singapore, a multi-ethnic city and hub of global multinationals, remains on high alert and on guard against terrorist activities in Southeast Asia, the ministry said, warning that the terrorist threat to Singapore remains high and the country continues to be a popular target for terrorists.
The department urged the public to be vigilant and promptly contact police or the Department of Homeland Security if they encounter suspicious persons or activities.
Indonesian terrorist group JI is behind some of Southeast Asia’s deadliest attacks, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people, the ministry said.
“For example, the JI’s radical ideologies, including the goal of establishing an Islamic caliphate in Southeast Asia through armed struggle, will likely continue to appeal to certain groups and individuals,” he added.
JI leaders in Indonesia announced the group’s disbandment at an event held by the Indonesian National Police’s counterterrorism team on June 30.
Welcoming the development, the Singapore government said the dissolution of JI in Indonesia is a “significant development and a major achievement” for the Indonesian authorities.
A video of the announcement, posted on the YouTube account of the radical Islamic website Arrahmah on July 3, shows 16 JI officials standing on a stage. They include Abu Rusdan, a militant cleric and former JI leader arrested in Bekasi in September 2021, and Para Wijayanto, who was arrested in 2019 on charges of recruiting militants and raising funds for Syria. Both remain in detention.
The dissolution was approved by the assembly of elders and leaders of Islamic boarding schools affiliated with the JI, Abu Rusdan said.
JI members agreed to return to the fold of the Republic of Indonesia and make changes to the curriculum of JI-affiliated schools so that there would no longer be materials teaching extremism.
The group was formed in 1993 by Abdullah Sungkar and Abu Bakar Bashir with the mission of building an Islamic state in Southeast Asia.
Abdullah died in 1999 while Abu Bakar was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2011 for funding militant training in Aceh. The 83-year-old was released in 2021 on humanitarian grounds.
Allegedly affiliated with al-Qaeda, the group was designated a banned organization by the Jakarta District Court in 2008 after several terrorist attacks by individuals acting on behalf of the group.
The JI has undergone several splits that gave rise to organizations founded by people dissatisfied with the decisions of its leaders. Abu Bakar Bashir himself left the JI and formed the Indonesian Mujahideen Council (MMI) in 2000 before resigning in 2008 after an internal conflict.
In 2017, the United States designated the MMI as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Group (SDGT) due to its alleged links to al-Qaeda and al-Nusra. The United States considers the group to pose a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism, although the MMI has denied any links to terrorist groups.
