HOW ISLAMIC STATE CHANGED TERRORISM IN INDONESIA

The emergence of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (IS) in 2014 saw a variety of Indonesian militant networks pledge allegiance to its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. While the largest Indonesian jihadist group, Jemaah Islamiyah, remained loyal to its traditional allies in Al-Qaeda and Jabhat al-Nusra (later Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham), a loose pro-ISIS coalition formed under the banner of Jamaah Anshorul Daulah (JAD). The rapid territorial gains of ISIS in Syria and Iraq greatly energized Indonesian jihadism, attracting radical youth and veteran militants alike. Former JI leader and icon of the old guard, Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, surprised observers by shifting allegiance to IS from his prison cell. For a brief window, ISIS activists openly held group oaths of allegiance in prominent mosques and marched with black flags on the streets of Jakarta. Reflecting developments elsewhere in the world, Indonesian pro-ISIS activists carved out corners of the Internet for recruitment and propaganda, some of which they still inhabit to this day.

What the “Islamic State” movement lacked in terms of organizational structure in Indonesia it gained in an ability to surprise authorities with repeated small-to-medium scale attacks. In the ISIS era, the most prominent attacks in Indonesia were a bombing and shooting at a Starbucks and shopping mall in the centre of Jakarta in January 2016, multiple family-led suicide bombings of church and police targets in Surabaya in May 2018, and a knife attack on Indonesia's chief security minister, Wiranto, in October 2019. These incidents left over twenty dead and dozens injured. Above all, Indonesian authorities were caught off-guard by the tactical innovation of the attacks.

The primary focus of IS attacks, however, has been the national police (Polri). Militants have been locked in cycles of revenge with police—which they see as the main symbol of a tyrannical un-Islamic regime—overshadowing any motivation to attack Western targets. Following the police, religious minorities, especially Christians, have been the most prominent target, in a national context of increasing political polarization between Islamists and nationalists.