Disbanded Jemaah Islamiyah surrendered weapons, explosives, says Indonesian counterterrorism official
There may be more, says Densus 88 spokesman.
JAKARTA: Disbanded Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) has surrendered their weapons and explosives and is continuing to do so, a counterterrorism official reportedly said.
The spokesperson for the Police Counterterror Special Detachment 88 or Densus 88, Senior Commissioner Aswin Siregar, confirmed that JI group had surrendered its weapons as a form of commitment to the the Republic of Indonesia, Tempo reported.
“So the weapons and explosives they kept, including other materials that still reflect JI's strength, were handed over by them,” Aswin was quoted as saying.
However, he said the handover of the weapons is still ongoing.
“There may be many more,” Aswin said.
He joked that the weapons and dangerous equipment might be buried somewhere.
In fact, he said JI members themselves might have forgotten where they kept the equipment.
“We'll look for it again later,” said Aswin.
Hundreds of JI members including leaders as well as sympathisers in various provincial chapters have announced dissolution of the terror organisation and pledged loyalty to the state of Indonesia.
One of them was Abdullah Anshori alias Ibnu Thoyib alias Abu Fatih, who was head of Mantiqi (movement area) II of JI in Indonesia.
He recounted to Tempo evidence that JI was serious about disbanding itself, saying JI had handed over all weapons and dangerous equipment to Densus 88 before June 30, 2024, when the group’s dissolution was first announced by top leaders.
“I think that's concrete evidence that we're not playing around,” Abu Fatih was quoted as saying. “This is not a gimmick, it's not a pretense.”
He also explained the reason JI disbanded itself, saying, logically, that there were members who were detained and suffered because of the impact of the JI problem.
But, he said the bigger reason was because their lives were for worship.
“We feel that merging into the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia is a form of the principle of fardu ain (religious individual obligation) worship ,” said Abu Fatih.
JI is widely known to be linked to al-Qaeda at the heights of its existence in the early 2000s.
JI was tagged in several attacks and bombings including the infamous 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.
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