Beware Indonesian terrorists' new tactics, warns official
Terrorists now prefer a soft approach rather than the hard one.
JAKARTA: The recent decline in terror attacks in Indonesia was due to terrorists’ change from hard tactics to soft approaches and the massive crackdown by law enforcement, said a counterterrorism official.
Terrorists now wear "jubah" (religious cloaks or clothes), but below the surface, they carry out massive and structured ideological movements," said the head of Indonesia’s National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), Rycko Amelza Dahniel in a statement.
Dahniel was speaking during a discussion of a book entitled “Radicalism, Terrorism and Deradicalisation in Indonesia” written by two senior police officials in Jakarta on Wednesday (July 12).
Dahniel said the decline in terror attacks from 2018 to 2022 is best explained using the “iceberg theory”.
“Now, violent groups no longer openly show their existence through physical attacks, but through soft approaches wrapped in religious narratives and symbols,” he said.
According to him, many people are instigated by this narrative and they even consciously agree to commit violence in the name of religion.
Rycko emphasised that there is no religion that teaches violence and intolerance.
"There is no religion that teaches about violence, which cannot accept differences," he said.
He also said cooperation is the key to breaking the chain of radicalism and terrorism, therefore, all elements in this country must be involved in prevention.
"In dealing with problems or a social phenomenon like this, we cannot work alone. A multi-stakeholder collaboration is a must, everyone must collaborate," stressed Rycko.