“Authorities say Islamic State has about 1,200 sympathizers in Indonesia…”
Indonesia is famous for its “moderate” Islam. So how did there come to be 1,200 Islamic State sympathizers there? Why did the Islamic State’s message appeal to so many people? Authorities never ponder the implications of information of this kind.
“Indonesia counter-terrorism forces foil plot to bomb state palace: Police,” Reuters, December 11, 2016:
JAKARTA: Indonesian counter-terrorism forces on Saturday (Dec 10) arrested three people near the capital Jakarta suspected of planning a bomb attack on the presidential palace, a police spokesman said.
The arrests of two men and a woman are the latest in a security crackdown ahead of the New Year holiday season and come amid concerns of a rise in Islamic State-inspired radicalism in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country.
Police raided a dormitory in Bekasi, a town about an hour outside Jakarta, and found an unexploded bomb.
“The plan was to use the bomb at the presidential palace during the change of guard,” Jakarta police spokesman Argo Yuwono said in a statement. He said an investigation was underway.
Police intercepted a letter the woman had intended to send to her parents stating her intention to carry out jihad, the police statement said….
Authorities say Islamic State has about 1,200 sympathizers in Indonesia and dozens are known to be fighting with the hardline Sunni militant group in Syria and Iraq.