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Neo-JI still poses threat as it keeps recruiting, training cadres
The group's military wing remains active and continues to recruit and train members, even though JI is believed to have not carried out violent attacks in Indonesia since 2007.
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A police line is on the gate of a house allegedly rented by Para Wijayanto, the leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, at the Pesona Telaga housing complex in Cibinong, Bogor, on June 30. (Tempo/Ade Ridwan)
T
he name Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) – a militant extremist Islamic group – has again made headlines months after the arrest of its long-standing leader Para Wijayanto in June. Blamed for various deadly terrorist attacks in the early 2000s, the group has been lying low since a security crackdown targeted its top leaders in 2007. However, many believe it remains a threat.
Para, an engineering graduate from Semarang-based Diponegoro University with well-known organizational skills, had led the Al-Qaeda-affiliated organization since 2008, around the time when both senior and younger members of the transnational group decided to shift its focus to dakwah (religious outreach) and education, away from violent jihad operations.
The decision was made amid their acknowledgment of the group's weakening condition following the security crackdown and backlash from fellow Muslims over their violent approach. The police then coined the name "Neo-JI" to describe the organization.
"The old JI would directly launch attacks at properties, foreign symbols in the country and security personnel, especially the police. Meanwhile, the strategy of Neo-JI, today's JI, is capacity-building through the strengthening of organization, human resources and economics, so that their fight to establish a caliphate will be more structured, systematic and massive," National Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo told The Jakarta Post.
