In October 2021, the Director of Identification and Socialization ofDetachment 88 Muhammad Sodiq said that 876 members of Jamaah Islamiyah had been arrested and sentenced in Indonesia.[17]
JI has its roots inDarul Islam (DI, meaning "House of Islam"), a radical Islamist/anti-colonialist movement inIndonesia in the1940s.[19]
Bashir and Sungkar were both imprisoned by theNew Order administration of Indonesian presidentSuharto as part of a crackdown on radical groups such asKomando Jihad, that were perceived to undermine the government's control over the Indonesian population. The two leaders spent several years in prison. After release, Bashir and his followers moved toMalaysia in 1982. They recruited people fromIndonesia,Malaysia,Singapore, and thePhilippines. The group officially named itself Jemaah Islamiyah around that time period.
JI's violent operations began during the communal conflicts inMaluku andPoso.[24] It shifted its attention to targeting U.S. and Western interests in Indonesia and the wider Southeast Asian region[25] since the start of the U.S.-ledwar on terror. JI's terror plans in Southeast Asia were exposed when itsplot to set off several bombs in Singapore was foiled by the local authorities.
Recruiting, training, indoctrination, financial, and operational links between the JI and other militant groups,[27][additional citation(s) needed] such asAl-Qaeda, theAbu Sayyaf Group (ASG), the Misuari Renegade/Breakaway Group (MRG/MBG) and the PhilippineRajah Sulaiman movement (RSM) have existed for many years.
Bashir became the spiritual leader of the group while Hambali became the military leader. Unlike theAl-Mau'nah group, Jemaah Islamiyah kept a low profile in Malaysia and their existence was publicized only after the2002 Bali bombings. It is suspected by some to be linked toAl-Qaeda or theTaliban.[28]
In 2003, Indonesian police confirmed the existence of "Mantiqe-IV", the JI regional cell which coveredIrian Jaya and Australia. Indonesian police said Muklas has identified Mantiqe IV's leader as Abdul Rahim—an Indonesian-born Australian.[36] Jemaah Islamiyah is also strongly suspected of carrying out the2003 JW Marriott hotel bombing, the2004 Australian embassy bombing,[37] the2005 Bali bombings and the2009 JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotel bombings.[38] The Bali and JW Marriott attacks showed that JI did not rule out attacking the same target more than once. The JI also has been directly and indirectly involved in dozens of bombings in thesouthern Philippines, usually in league with the ASG.[39][40]
However, most of Jemaah Islamiyah prominent figures such asHambali,Abu Dujana,Zarkasih,Noordin M. Top andDulmatin have either been captured or killed, mostly by Indonesian anti-terrorist squad,Detachment 88.[41][42] While several of its former leaders, including Malaysian Islamic extremist andAfghanistan War veteranNasir Abbas, have renounced violence and even assisted the Indonesian and Malaysian governments in the war on terrorism. Nasir Abbas was Noordin Top's former trainer.[39]
Indonesian investigators revealed the JI's establishment of a hit squad in April 2007, which was established to target top leaders who oppose the group's objectives, as well as other officials, including police officers, government prosecutors and judges handling terrorism-related cases.[43]
In April 2008, the South Jakarta District Court declared JI an illegal organisation when sentencing former leader Zarkasih and military commander Abu Dujana to 15 years on terrorism charges.[44]
In 2010, Indonesian authorities cracked down on the Jemaah Islamiyah network inAceh. Between February and May 2010, more than 60 militants were captured.[45] This Aceh network was established byDulmatin sometime after 2007 when he returned to Indonesia.[46]
The nameJemaah Islamiyah roughly translates to "Islamic Community" in English and is abbreviated as "JI". To counter the recruitment efforts by the group, Islamic scholars in Indonesia and the Philippines who are critical of the group suggested it be calledJemaah Munafiq (JM) instead, translated as "Hypocrites' Community".[47]
12 March 2000, 3 JI members were arrested inManila carryingplastic explosives in their luggage. One of them is later jailed for 17 years.
1 August 2000, Jemaah Islamiyah attempted to assassinate thePhilippine ambassador toIndonesia, Leonides Caday.[48] The bomb detonated as his car entered his official residence in centralJakarta killing two people and injuring 21 others, including the ambassador.[49]
13 September 2000, a car bomb explosion tore through a packed parking deck beneath theJakarta Stock Exchange building killing 15 people and injuring 20.[50][49]
24 December 2000, JI took part in a major coordinated bombings of churches in Jakarta and eight other cities in Indonesia.
30 December 2000, a series ofbombings that occurred aroundMetro Manila in thePhilippines, 22 died and over a hundred were injured. In the following years, several members of the Jemaah Islamiyah for their suspected involvement in the bombings.
8 December 2001, a raid by Singaporean authorities successfully foil a plot by JI tobomb several foreign embassies in Singapore. The plot also revealed several bombing locations, which included the water pipeline between Malaysia and Singapore, and alsoan MRT station, where Americans frequently traveled.[51]
5 June 2002, Indonesian authorities arrest KuwaitiOmar al-Faruq. Handed over to the U.S. authorities, he subsequently confesses he is a senior al-Qaeda operative sent to Southeast Asia to orchestrate attacks against U.S. interests. He reveals to investigators detailed plans of a new terror spree in Southeast Asia.[52][53]
After many warnings by U.S. authorities of a credible terrorist threat in Jakarta, on 23 September 2002, agrenade explodes in a car near the residence of aU.S. embassy official in Jakarta, killing one of the attackers.[54]
2 October 2002, aU.S. Soldier and two Filipinos are killed in a JI nail-bomb attack outside a bar in the southern Philippine city ofZamboanga.[55]
10 October 2002, a bomb rips through a bus terminal in the southern Philippine city ofKidapawan, killing six people and injuring twenty-four. On the same day, the U.S. ambassador in Jakarta,Ralph Boyce, personally delivers to the Indonesian President a message of growing concern that Americans could become targets of terrorist actions in her country.[56]
12 October 2002, on the second anniversary of theUSSCole bombing in Yemen, a huge car bomb kills more than 202 and injures 300 on the Indonesian resort island ofBali. Most are foreigners, mainly Australian tourists. It is preceded by a blast at the U.S. consulate in nearbyDenpasar. The attack known as the2002 Bali bombings is the most deadly attack executed by JI to date.
Bashir was arrested by the Indonesian police and was given a light sentence fortreason.[57]
Hambali was arrested inThailand on 11 August 2003, and is currently detained and awaiting trial by Military Commissions, in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.[58]
A British-born Australian namedJack Roche confessed to being part of a JI plot to blow up the Israeli embassy inCanberra, Australia on 28 May 2004. He was sentenced to 9 years in prison on 31 May. The man admitted to meeting figures likeOsama bin Laden in Afghanistan.[60]
JI are widely suspected of being responsible for the bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta on 9 September 2004, which killed 11 Indonesians and wounded over 100 more.[61]
9 November 2005, bomb-making expert and influential figure in Indonesian terrorist organization,Azahari Husin was killed in a raid atBatu, East Java.[62]
5 August 2006, Al-Qaeda's Al Zawahiri appeared on a recorded video announcing that JI and Al-Qaeda had joined forces and that the two groups will form "one line, facing its enemies".[63]
13 June 2007,Abu Dujana, the head of JI's military operations, is captured by Indonesian police.[64]
15 June 2007, Indonesian police announced the capture ofZarkasih, who was leading Jemaah Islamiyah since the capture of Hambali. Zarkasih is believed to be the emir of JI.[65]
27 February 2008, the leader of JI in Singapore,Mas Selamat bin Kastari, escaped from the Whitley Road Detention Centre.[66]
1 April 2009, Mas Selamat bin Kastari was recaptured in a raid byPasukan Gerakan Khas and Special Branch inJohor, Malaysia.[64]
17 September 2009,Noordin Mohammad Top was killed in a raid by Indonesian police inSurakarta,Central Java.[68] Noordin was a recruiter, bomb maker, and explosions expert for Jemaah Islamiyah.[69] Although Noordin was connected to Jemaah Islamiyah, in 2006 Indonesian police reported that he andAzahari Husin had split from the organisation to form "an even more hardline group"[70] which reportedly bore the name "Al-Qaeda Jihad Organisation for the Malay Archipelago".[71] Until his death, Noordin was the most wanted Islamist militant in Indonesia.[72][73]
13 December 2010, Indonesian police chargedAbu Bakar Bashir, spiritual head of Jemaah Islamiyah, with involvement in plans of terror and military training in Aceh province. The charge against him of inciting others to commit terrorism carries the death penalty.
January 2012, the Philippine military announced that it had killed two key leaders of Jemaah Islamiyah, a Malaysian calledZulkifli bin Hir (aka Marwan) and Mohammad Ali (aka Muawiyah). Senior intelligence sources later stated that Hir and Ali survived the air strike. Reports of Bin Hir's death were again retracted in 2014.[74][75][76]
14 December 2012: A Malaysian member of Jemaah Islamiyah, who is subsequently identified as Mohammad Noor Fikrie bin Abdul Kahar fromKedah, is shot dead by aS.W.A.T teamsniper outside the Apo View Hotel inPoblacion District ofDavao City, after he had threatened to detonate anI.E.D. made from a 60-millimeter mortar round when confronted byPhilippine police.[77][78]
26 February 2014, Sheikh Kahar Mundos, a bomb maker, left a bomb in a motorcycle hidden at the city hall inCagayan de Oro,Philippines.[79]
27 June 2014,Abdul Basit Usman, a bomb maker who was falsely reported as killed in a U.S. airstrike inPakistan in 2010, is revealed to be alive and a potential terror threat.[80]
16 September 2014, Jemaah Islamiyah claimed responsibility for the bombing of theRizal Monument in front of the city hall ofGeneral Santos,Philippines, killing one person and injuring 7.[81][82]
25 January 2015, JI memberZulkifli Abdhir was killed in the Philippines, an operation that also resulted in the death of 44 police officers.[83]
1 July 2019, Indonesian police arrested Para Wijayanto, who was said to have been the leader of Jemaah Islamiyah since 2007.[84]
2 July 2019, after the arrest of leader Para Wijayanto,Densus 88 counterterrorism unit of Indonesia tracedpalm oil plantations as a source of funding for the group, according to National Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo.[85][86]
23 November 2020, Indonesian Police arrested Upik Lawanga, who has been involved in the2002 Bali bombings. His role involves constructing bombs to be used in several terror attacks.[87]
17 May 2024, aRoyal Malaysian Police station atUlu Tiram, Johor wasattacked by a man that was linked with Jemaah Islamiyah, killing two police officers and wounding one. The suspect was shot dead by another police officer during the attack. Police investigations revealed that the suspect, who has no criminal record, made preparations to confront the police – based on items found in his bag which he used as a shield. There were zinc sheets and paper inside.[90] After the attack, the police launched a raid on the suspect's house and arrested his family members that were linked with the group, including his father.[91]
On 30 June 2024, key members of the terror group Jemaah Islamiyah in Indonesia dissolved the organization in a video declaration made at the National Counter Terrorism Agency inBogor, near Jakarta. Abu Rusdan, a militant cleric and former JI leader arrested in Bekasi in September 2021, said that JI's senior council and the leaders of the group's affiliated Islamic boarding schools “have agreed to declare the dissolution of the JI and return to Indonesia's embrace”. Abu Rusdan made the statement alongside other key figures, including Para Wijayanto, one of the most wanted terrorists in Southeast Asia who was arrested in 2019 for recruiting militants and raising funds forSyria.[92][2][93][94][95]
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Al-Qaeda
Afghanistan[3]
Argentina
Australia[29]
Bahrain
Canada[30]
European Union
Japan
Malaysia
New Zealand
United Kingdom[31]
United Nations[32]
United States[33]
