T

he National Police have vowed to follow up on reports that five mosques in Jakarta have been used as recruitment centers for the Islamic State (IS) movement.

Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Charliyan told reporters on Tuesday that the police force and the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) were working together to monitor any possible terrorist threats or radicalization centers.

'€œWe are following up [on information that five mosques are being used as recruitment centers] to make sure that it is not a hoax. We will follow up on any information, no matter how insignificant. However, we do not just suspect mosques. A lot of places can be recruitment centers because of the openness of the internet,'€ he said at police headquarters.

A report published by abc.net.au on Monday described a secretive gathering of IS supporters at the As-Syuhada Mosque in Jakarta led by hardline Syamsuddin Uba, who declared IS as a place where sharia is upheld.

Another recording uploaded as IS propaganda on YouTube showed a different cleric promising that those who join IS would have their welfare guaranteed without having to shell out a single penny.

The article claimed that at least five mosques in Jakarta were being used to host IS sermons, including the Al Fataa Mosque in Menteng, a wealthy part of the capital. One of the terrorists involved in last month'€™s deadly attack, Afif, was said to have regularly prayed at the Al Fataa Mosque.

Anton noted that although mosques remained one of the locations where police suspected IS recruited its members, the radical movement is thought to be concentrating on those with low levels of faith.

'€œThey are now recruiting those who are weak in the faith. It is actually more difficult now to recruit people who have strong faith, such as students from pesantren [Islamic boarding schools]. Although there is an exception for pesantren with particularly hardline beliefs,'€ he said.

Data from the BNPT shows that the counterterrorism agency found 19 pesantren that were in danger of becoming radicalized. Ten of the pesantren are found on the island of Java, while the remainder were found in Lampung, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) and South Sulawesi.

Only one potentially radical pesantren can be found in Poso, Central Sulawesi, where the Santoso-led East Mujahiddin (MIT) group is active.

The pesantren are said to be affiliated with several known radical groups, such as Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), Jama'€™ah Ansharut Daulah (JAT), Darul Islam (DI) and the Indonesia Mujahidin Council (MMI).

The same data also noted that there were several characteristics that radicalized people displayed, including a refusal to eat meat that has been butchered by other people, not praying at a mosque and also marrying without a guardian since they no longer believe their relatives to be real Muslims.

Both the BNPT and the police force have pointed their fingers at terrorist convict Aman Abdurrahman for being the main distributor of IS propaganda since the movement burst onto the international scene in 2014.

Despite being heavily guarded on the Nusakambangan prison island in Central Java, Aman was able to translate IS propaganda and even convinced fellow terrorism convict Abu Bakar Ba'€™asyir to make a pledge to IS.

Two weeks ago Aman, Abu Bakar and three other terrorism convicts had been moved into isolation at the Pasir Putih prison on Nusakambangan to prevent any contact with their radical networks.
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