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Saturday, January 23, 2016

Man accused of financing Jakarta attacks arrested

Returning to the area outside Jakarta's oldest department store, Sarinah, where Thursday's attack unfolded, the city's police chief said the rise of Isis was a cause for serious concern.

Experts agree that there is a growing threat from radicalised Muslims inspired by Islamic State, some of whom may have fought with the group in Syria. Until now, the group was known only to have sympathizers with no active cells capable of planning and carrying out a plot such as Thursday's in which five men attacked a Starbucks cafe and a traffic police booth with handmade bombs, guns and suicide belts.

Police had earlier put the toll of victims from Thursday's assault at two, but raised it with the latest death and confirmation that an Indonesian man originally suspected of being a militant was actually a civilian. Some 20 people were injured. At the same time, pro-IS rallies in Indonesia were attracting small crowds.

Khalid said three other people suspected of being supporters of Islamic State were arrested this week at Kuala Lumpur airport after they returned from Turkey.

Police confirmed that Isis was responsible and named an Indonesian militant, Bahrun Naim, as the mastermind.

Police conducted raids across Indonesia but was it unclear whether those arrested were suspected of links to the bombing or if police were rounding up militants as part of a broader crackdown in its aftermath.

The Islamic State group claimed the attack was carried out by its "soldiers" against citizens from the "crusader coalition", referring to the US-led alliance combating the jihadists.

But the language and cultural commonalities of Katibah Nusantara followers could help keep fighters in the fold and provide an enduring tool for coordinating attacks across South-east Asia and recruiting more fighters to Syria, analysts said.

In Western capitals, Indonesia has always been a kind of poster child for progress: a developing nation with the world's largest Muslim population that has embraced both democracy and moderate Islam.

There was a spate of militant attacks in Indonesia in the 2000s, the deadliest of which was a nightclub bombing on Bali that killed 202 people, majority tourists. "Their arms were pretty limited", said Scott Stewart, a tactical analysis expert at Stratfor, a global intelligence and advisory firm. Creating an atmosphere of fear and insecurity in a city of 10 million amplifies the impact of the attack well beyond the actual loss of life.

Stewart considers the association with IS a "rebranding" effort by militants who previously identified with al-Qaida, rather than a sign of a new and rising radical movement. A police vehicle and a half-dozen officers were seen guarding the French embassy near the attack site.

"The president has said the nation and the people should not be scared and should not be defeated by acts of terror", said palace spokesman Ari Dwipayana.

Afif, who also uses the alias Sunakim, had trained in an Islamic paramilitary camp in Indonesia's semi-autonomous Aceh region in 2010, national police chief Badrodin Haiti told reporters. Two dozen other people were wounded - three foreigners, six police officers and the rest Indonesian civilians. While that could play into the aims of the attackers, it could also pin responsibility on foreign influences and skirt questions about Indonesia's domestic counterterrorism strategy.

"His vision is to unite all Isis supporting elements in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines", Jakarta police chief Karnavian said.

The Jakarta attack, following the extremist assaults in San Bernardino, Paris and Istanbul, suggests that the ability of IS to direct or inspire attacks around the world is building, he said. "Be patient, when the case is closed and things are clear we will disclose them".


Source: Man accused of financing Jakarta attacks arrested

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