Growing worries about terrorism in Indonesia
The discovery of a militant training camp in Indonesia, along with persistent terrorist attacks there, have increased U.S. concerns that extremists are regrouping and eyeing Western targets in a country long viewed as a counterterrorism success story.
With President Barack Obama set to begin a visit Tuesday to the world’s most populous Muslim country, there is renewed attention on terrorists in Indonesia — terrorists who, in the past year, appeared to be banding together into a new al Qaeda-influenced insurgency. Recent Pentagon moves to renew a training program with Indonesia’s special forces and bolster military assistance show that the Obama administration believes the country needs more help tracking and rooting out insurgents, particularly those who rejoin the fight once they are released from jail.
The U.S. has praised Indonesia’s efforts to crack down on terrorists. Government police and military authorities have captured or killed more than 100 terrorists over the past year.
Fox New reports that U.S. defense officials, however, worry about the overall threat. They are watching for any signs of movement or increased communications between Indonesian extremists and al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Obama’s long-promised visit to the nation where he lived from age 6 to 10 comes as U.S. defense officials said Indonesia has exhibited both the will and the ability to pursue extremists.
That includes developing an aggressive rehabilitation program, as well as a consistent string of arrests, these officials said. Several U.S. defense and counterterrorism officials spoke about the threats on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence information.
They also are concerned, however, that some jailed militants have returned to the fight after their release. That raises questions about how effective the rehabilitation program is and how well authorities are tracking militants once they are free.
“There is a hard core that are not reformable,” agreed Sidney Jones, an expert on the region and analyst with the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.
Fox New reports that the discovery of a terrorist training camp in Aceh Province this year heightened U.S. fears that there may be other emerging threats in the country’s remote regions that Indonesia has failed to ferret out.
According to Indonesian authorities, the Aceh group was plotting assassinations or attacks similar to the one in Mumbai, India, in 2008. While recent attacks in Indonesia have focused on government and law enforcement, several high profile strikes in the past eight years have targeted Western interests.
Officials said it appears Indonesian militants have been
