In June 2015, Indonesia was taken off the Financial Action Task Forceblacklist of 'Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories' (NCCTs) due to Indonesia no longer being non-cooperative in the global fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. That gives Indonesia the same status as other major economies in the G20.[37]
Indonesia has worked with other countries to apprehend and prosecute perpetrators of major bombings linked to militant Islamism.[38] Since 2003, a number of 'western targets' have been attacked. Victims have included both foreigners — mainly Western tourists — as well as Indonesian civilians. Terrorism in Indonesia intensified in 2000 with the Philippine consulate bombing in Jakarta and Jakarta Stock Exchange bombing, followed by four more large attacks. The deadliest killed 202 people (including 164 international tourists) in the Bali resort town of Kuta in 2002.[39] The attacks, and subsequent travel warnings issued by other countries, severely damaged Indonesia's tourism industry and foreign investment prospects.[40] However, after the capture and killing of most of its key members and leaders, most notably Imam Samudra, Amrozi, Abu Dujana, Azahari Husin, and Noordin Mohammad Top, the terrorist cells in Indonesia have become less significant.
Since 2011, terrorist attacks seemed to shift from targeting foreign Western interests and residents to attacking Indonesian police officers. The Indonesian Police had success in cracking down on terrorist cells, and in retaliation a new terrorist cell, identified as the "Cirebon Cell", began targeting police officers. On 15 April 2011 a suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device in a mosque in a police compound in the city of Cirebon, West Java, during Friday prayers. The bomber was killed and at least 28 people were injured.[41][42] The same cell was also suspected of being involved in two more attacks in Solo, the suicide bombing of a church on 25 September 2011, and a shooting targeting police on 17 August 2012. However these attacks were not as well-prepared and high scaled as previous attacks organized by Jemaah Islamiyah.
Although the number of terrorist attacks seem to have reduced in both number and scale, some terrorist hotspots such as Poso, Central Sulawesi, remain. the Poso region was previously marred by religious violence between Muslims and Christians in the area. On 16 October 2012, Police discovered two corpses of murdered police that had been missing for three days in Tamanjeka village, Poso Regency, Central Sulawesi. The victims went missing during an investigatory mission to a suspected terrorist training ground in a forest the Poso area.[43]
Similar attacks targeting the Indonesian authorities, especially police officers, have also occurred in Papua, however these are not linked with Islamist terrorist cells, but rather with the Papuan separatist movement Organisasi Papua Merdeka. On 8 April 2012, a Trigana Air PK-YRF airplane was shot at by unidentified gunmen during a landing approach on Mulia airstrip, Puncak Jaya, Papua. A Papua Pos journalist, Kogoya (35), was killed in this shooting.[44] On 27 November 2012, three policemen stationed at the remote Pirime police post, Jayawijaya, Papua, were killed in an attack by a group of unidentified men. Police suspected the Papua separatist movement was behind the attack.[45]
Subsequent bombings in the centre of Jakarta, in which all but one victim were ordinary Indonesians, shocked the public and brought swift responses from the Indonesian security forces. Even the most reluctant politicians had to admit that the evidence pointed to a small group of Islamist agitators. The Jakarta bombings and legal prosecutions helped shift public opinion away from the use of extremist Islamic political violence, but also increased the influence of intelligence bodies, the police and military whose strength had diminished since 1998.[46]
Political factors clouded Indonesian responses to the "War on Terror"; politicians were at pains not to be seen to be bowing to US and Australian opinion. Even the term "Jemaah Islamiyah" is controversial in Indonesia as it means "Islamic community/congregation", and was also the subject of previous "New Order" manipulation.[47]
The attacks, and subsequent travel warnings issued by other countries including the United States[48] and Australia,[49] severely damaged Indonesia's tourism industry and foreign investment prospects. Bali's economy was a particularly hard hit, as were tourism based businesses in other parts of Indonesia. In May 2008, the United States government decided to lift its warning.[49] In 2006, 227,000 Australians visited Indonesia and in 2007 this rose to 314,000.[49]
Within three months after the 2002 Bali bombing, various militants, including the attack's mastermind Imam Samudra, the notorious 'smiling-bomber' Amrozi, and many others were apprehended.[50] Imam Samudra, Amrozi, and Amrozi's brother Ali Ghufron were executed by firing squad on 9 November 2008.
On 9 November 2005, bomb expert and senior player in Jemaah Islamiyah, Malaysian former university lecturer Dr. Azahari Husin, along with two other militants were killed in a raid on a house in Batu, East Java.[51]
The police forces uncovered JI's new command structure in March 2007 and discovered a weapons depot in Java in May 2007. Abu Dujana, suspected leader of JI's military wing and its possible emir, was apprehended on 9 June 2007.[52]
By May 2008, Indonesian police had arrested 418 suspects, of which approximately 250 had been tried and convicted. According to sources within Detachment 88, the JI organisation had been "shrunk", and many of its top operatives had been arrested or killed.[49]
On 17 July 2009, two blasts ripped two Jakarta hotels, JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton, killing seven.[53] It was the first serious attack for the country in five years. The police stated that it was committed by a more radical splinter group of JI, led by the man then dubbed as the most wanted terrorist in Southeast Asia, Noordin Mohammad Top. Top was killed in a raid two months later on 17 September 2009, in Solo, Central Java.[54] All members of his cell were either killed or captured, including the recruiter and field coordinator of the attack, Ibrohim, killed on 12 August 2009,[55] and the one said to be his successor, Syaifudin Zuhri, killed on 9 October 2009. After Top, many believed that terrorism in Indonesia had run out of charismatic leaders, and grew insignificant. According to South East Asian terrorism expert and director of the South East Asia International Crisis Group, Sidney Jones, Top's death was "a huge blow for the extremist organizations in Indonesia and the region".[56]
On 9 March 2010, Dulmatin, a senior figure in the militant group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and one of the most wanted terrorists in Southeast Asia was killed in a police raid in Pamulang, South Tangerang by Detachment 88.[57]
In May 2018, The House of Representatives (DPR) and the government agreed to ratify the draft revision of Law Number 15 of 2013 concerning the Eradication of Criminal Acts of Terrorism (the Anti-terrorism Bill) into law.[58] Previously, police have to wait for members of the suspected terror organisation to commit terrorism, in order to arrest them. The new anti-terrorism law gave the government the authority to identify and submit an organisation as a terrorist organisation to the court. In this new law, the membership to a terrorist cells or terrorist organisation groups, that have been established by the court, is enough to arrest and persecute a terrorist suspect, thus enabled the authority to perform preemptive measures prior to the terrorist attacks. Since then, the JAD (Jamaah Ansharut Daulah), JI (Jemaah Islamiyah), has been submitted as active terrorist groups in Indonesia, which membership to either of these organisation will be prosecuted immediately by Indonesian law.[59]
A group called Commando Jihad hijacked the DC-9 "Woyla" en route from Palembang to Medan, and ordered the crew to fly the aircraft to Colombo, Sri Lanka. The hijackers demanded the release of Commando Jihad members imprisoned in Indonesia, and US $ 1.5 million, as well as an aircraft to take those prisoners to an unspecified destination. During the siege at the Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, One of the Kopassus commandos was shot, as was the pilot. The rest of the hostages were released unharmed. Two of the hijackers surrendered, but they were killed by the Kopassus commandos on the plane taking them back to Jakarta.[60]
An explosive device, composed of TNT PE 808/Dahana type, detonated on board a bus that had been en route to Bali. Four passengers on the vehicle were killed, along with the three terrorists tasked with carrying out the attack. Mochammad Achwan was accused of providing the bombs for the attack, the intended target of the weapons the popular tourist beach at Kuta.[63]
A bomb detonated outside the official residence of the Philippines Ambassador to Indonesia, Leonides Caday, in Menteng, Jakarta. The bomb kills two and injured 21 others.[65]
A car bomb exploded in the basement of the Jakarta Stock Exchange, triggering a chain of explosions in which a number of cars caught fire. Most of the dead were drivers waiting by their employer's cars.[66][67]
The coordinated bomb attacks occurred on in the tourist district of Kuta, Bali. The attack was claimed as the deadliest act of terrorism in the history of Indonesia according to the current police general, killing 202 people, (including 88 Australians, and 38 Indonesian citizens).[74] A further 240 people were injured. Various members of Jemaah Islamiyah, a violent Islamist group, were convicted in relation to the bombings, including three individuals who were sentenced to death.
Three people, including the suicide bomber, were killed when a bomb detonated in the McDonald's restaurant at the Ratu Indah shopping mall. Galazi bin Abdul Somad, a member of the Laskar Jundullah Islamic Militia, was sentenced to eighteen years in prison for his role in this attack.[75]
A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the lobby of the JW Marriott Hotel, killing twelve people and injuring 150. The hotel located in Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta, Indonesia. All those killed were Indonesian with the exception of one Dutch businessman, one Danish, and two Chinese tourists.[77]
The bombing occurred during a concert at a night market in Peureulak, Aceh,[78][79] killed at least 10 people, including three children, and wounded 45 others.[80] The Indonesian military blamed Free Aceh Movement (GAM) for the attack.
A one-tonne car bomb, which was packed into a small delivery van, exploded outside the Australian embassy at Kuningan District, South Jakarta, at about 10:30 local time (03:30 UTC), killing 9 people including the suicide bomber, and wounding over 150 others.[81]Jemaah Islamiyah claimed responsibility for the attack.[82]
Two improvised explosive devices, set to explode 15 minutes apart, detonated during the morning at a market in the center of Tentena, Central Sulawesi, killing 22 and wounding at least 40 more.[84]
Series of suicide bomb and a series of car bombs exploded at two sites in Jimbaran Beach Resort and in Kuta, Bali. The terrorist attack claimed the lives of 20 people and injured more than 100 others. The three bombers also died in the attacks.[85]
The JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels in Jakarta were hit by separate suicide bombings five minutes apart. Three of the seven victims who were killed were Australians, two from the Netherlands, and one each from New Zealand and Indonesia. More than 50 people were injured in the blasts.[87]
A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in a mosque in a police compound in the city of Cirebon, in West Java, during Friday prayer. The bomber was killed and at least 28 people were injured.[41][42]
Police discovered two corpses of murdered policemen that has been missing three days earlier in Tamanjeka village. The pair went missing during investigation mission on suspected terrorist training ground in a Poso Regency forest.[43]
-- Government institution (police) and expatriates
At least three militants reportedly detonated explosives in or near a Burger King restaurant in central Jakarta. The militants then threw a grenade at a police post nearby, destroying the post and killing at least 3 people. Gunfire had ensued when police arrived shortly afterwards.
Two explosions occurred at a bus terminal in Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta. Police confirmed that the explosions were caused by multiple explosive devices found in the toilet and in another part of the terminal. The bombings killed 5 people, 3 policemen and 2 attackers. The 11 injured people were taken to multiple hospitals across the Eastern Jakarta area.[90]
Two perpetrators stabbed a police officer to death at his post in Medan, North Sumatra . Other officers soon responded and killed one assaliant while arresting another.[91]
Terrorist inmates in a detention center staged a riot resulting in the death of 5 police officers and one inmate. The detention center is the heavily guarded compound of the local headquarters of the Mobile Brigade Corps, a paramilitary unit of the National Police, and it was guarded by elite counter-terrorism officers.[93]
3 suicide bombs exploded in Innocent Saint Mary Catholic Church (Ngagel), Indonesia Christian Church (Diponegoro), and Surabaya Central Pentecost Church Church (Arjuno). All three churches are in Surabaya, East Java. The blasts killed all 13 of the bombers, 15 citizens and injured 57 people.
A family was killed in this incident. It was suspected that they were making suicide bombs when the bomb exploded. The only victims in this incident were the family (husband, wife and son). This incident happened in a public housing in Sidoarjo, Surabaya, East Java. Police suspected that it might be connected with the church bombings that happened earlier in that morning.[94]
A police station was attacked by a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle, the attack happened at a police station in Surabaya at around 08:50 AM, West Indonesia Time. Ten people were reportedly killed, four of them were police checking on the entrance; the rest were civilians.
A police station was attacked by five attackers with swords. They arrived at the police station using a car. One of the attackers drove off after hitting and killing a police officer with the car, while four others attacked using swords which then injured two police officers. Four of the attackers were later killed while the driver was captured by the police.
Three bombs exploded in a house in the village of Pogar in Bangil in the Pasuruan district of East Java province, wounding a child. The owner of the bombs escaped, but his wife was arrested by the police.[95][96]
Chief security minister Wiranto was stabbed by an assailant using a sharp weapon during a working visit to Menes, Pandeglang, Banten Province. A local police chief was also stabbed in the back. Following the incident, the Banten Police had arrested the perpetrators; one man and one woman. The perpetrators; Syahrial Alamsyah alias Abu Rara, and his wife Fitri Andriana, had allegedly been exposed to radical teachings and also an alleged Islamic State member that led them to perform the attack.[97][98]
Four police officers, a part-time worker and a civilian were injured in a suicide bombing by 24-year-old Rabbial Muslim Nasution in Medan's Police HQ.[99][100]
A 25-year-old female assailant attacked Indonesian National Police headquarters with an airgun and was shot dead by the police after she fired several rounds. No one was injured in the attack. According to the police, the attacker was an IS-affiliated lone wolf.
^formed as a merger between the 3 preceding Papuan independence military wings: TPNPB, TRWP, and TNPB and operating under United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).[6] However, TPNPB later denied they have recognized ULMWP nor agreed with the formation of WPA.[7]
^TPNPB claimed they have a total of 29 Regional Defense Command (Kodap) with around 2,500 active members in each Kodap.[16]
^total casualties from both counter terrorism operations and terrorist attacks