Given its immeasurable human impact, the government should not underestimate this terrorist attack in Sigi. Even though it occurred in a remote village, on tracing it closely, we can see that the attack has a long genealogy intertwined with international developments and power relations between the state and religion, particularly Islam in Indonesia.

The MIT, a terrorist organization that was originally linked to Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), evolved in three phases.

The first phase was the group’s birth, when it became a new home for disparate terrorists and a training ground after a 2010 counterterrorism raid exposed a jihadi training camp in Aceh that was intended to develop unity. Soon after, authorities carried out sweeping arrests of members of the same network at a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Bima, on the eastern Indonesian island of Sumbawa.

According to an interview with a former MIT member, the two incidents triggered a new effort to establish a qoidah aminah (secure base) in Poso, Central Sulawesi, from which terrorist groups could carry out their next mission.

The initial narrative in this phase was “i'dad”, a code word for paramilitary training and a subculture that became deeply entrenched among MIT supporters.

For them, jihad is fardhu ain or jihad fardiah (individual duty). This means that jihad is placed on an equal footing with other religious duties such as praying, fasting, zakat and the haj.

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