• Burmese
Friday, December 1, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
4 °c
Ashburn
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Features
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Features
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Asia

Indonesia Turns to China as Ethnic Uighurs Join Would-Be Jihadis

by The Irrawaddy
January 7, 2016
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
Indonesia Turns to China as Ethnic Uighurs Join Would-Be Jihadis

Security guards stand at the gate of the National Counter-Terrorism Agency building in Bogor

2.7k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

JAKARTA — Indonesian authorities are working with their counterparts in China to stem a flow of ethnic Uighur militants seeking to join Islamist jihadists in the world’s most populous Muslim country, Indonesia’s counter-terrorism chief said.

Saud Usman Nasution’s comments come amid mounting concern in Indonesia about possible attacks by sympathizers of the Islamic State group and follows the arrest of 13 men across the island of Java, including a Muslim Uighur with a suicide-bomb vest.

RelatedPosts

No Let Up in Myanmar Junta Losses as Resistance Attacks Continue

No Let Up in Myanmar Junta Losses as Resistance Attacks Continue

December 1, 2023
1.1k
Trafficking Victims in Myanmar Forced to Sell Organs: Charity

Trafficking Victims in Myanmar Forced to Sell Organs: Charity

December 1, 2023
523
Myanmar IDPs Stranded by Junta Troops in Northern Shan State Face a Long Walk Home

Myanmar IDPs Stranded by Junta Troops in Northern Shan State Face a Long Walk Home

November 30, 2023
2.9k

The appearance among Indonesian militant networks of Uighurs, who come from the Xinjiang region in far-western China, is likely to add to Beijing’s concerns that exiles will return to their homeland as experienced and trained jihadists.

China says Islamist militants and separatists operate in energy-rich Xinjiang on the borders of central Asia, where violence has killed hundreds in recent years.

Rights groups say much of the unrest can be traced back to frustration at controls over the Uighurs’ culture and religion, and that most of those who leave are only fleeing repression not seeking to wage jihad. China denies repressing rights.

Nasution, who heads the National Counter-Terrorism Agency, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday that several Uighurs had responded to a call last year by Santoso, Indonesia’s most high-profile backer of Islamic State, to join his band of fighters.

Islamic State and human trafficking networks helped them travel via Burma, Thailand and Malaysia to Santoso’s hideout in an equatorial jungle of eastern Indonesia, he said.

However, the would-be suicide bomber arrested on Dec. 23 was hiding in a house just outside the capital, Jakarta.

“We are cooperating with China and investigating evidence such as ATM cards and cellphones,” Nasution said, adding that an Indonesian team went to China to interview members of the man’s family, who would not confirm that they were related to him.

There was no immediate comment from China’s foreign ministry on whether Beijing is collaborating with Indonesia.

“As far as China is concerned, these people are running off, some of them taking part in jihad and planning to strike back,” said Pan Zhiping, a terrorism expert at the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences.

“Of course we must stop them. I believe, in terms of jointly guarding against extremism, it is necessary that we cooperate.”

Bilveer Singh of the Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore said the direct involvement of Chinese Uighurs in Southeast Asian militancy added “an external dimension to the existing home-grown terrorist threat.”

“It could also complicate ties with a rising China, which may want to play a bigger counter-terrorism role in the region,” Singh said in a Eurasia Review article.

‘Serious Concern for China’

Indonesia’s security forces have given Santoso, who styles himself as the commander of the Islamic State army in Indonesia, until Jan. 9 to surrender along with his force of about 40 men on the far-flung island of Sulawesi.

However, security analysts believe a larger threat is emerging across the populous island of Java as networks of support for Islamic State grow.

Indonesia has been largely successful in disrupting domestic militant cells since the bombing of two nightclubs on the resort island of Bali in 2002, and sporadic attacks have been mainly targeted at the police.

The government is now worried that the influence of Islamic State, whose fighters hold swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, could bring a return of jihadi violence and strikes against foreigners and soft targets.

Officials believe there are more than 1,000 Islamic State supporters in Indonesia, and say that between 100 and 300 have returned from Syria, though this includes women and children.

Nasution said that monitoring of radical groups had revealed plans to launch attacks on Christmas Eve and around the New Year holiday but the situation was now under control.

“They cannot attack like in the Middle East or Europe because we anticipate before they attack. We monitor their activities every day,” he said. “Their capability has not increased because their personnel is limited, their funding is limited and explosives are limited.”

Police spokesman Suharsono said the Uighur arrested just outside Jakarta was part of an Islamic State-affiliated group based in the Central Java city of Solo.

Officials declined to comment on media reports that two other Uighurs from the same group were on the run, but they did confirm that three Uighurs were with Santoso.

Four others were sentenced last year to six years in prison for conspiring with Indonesian militants.

Todd Elliott, a Jakarta-based terrorism analyst for Concord Consulting, said many Uighurs will see Indonesia as more accessible than Turkey or Syria and are exploiting entrenched smuggling and human-trafficking networks to travel around the region undetected.

“I am sure returning Uighur fighters are a serious concern of the Chinese government,” he said, adding that Islamic State’s hardline ideology has gained traction among small minorities in both Xinjiang and Indonesia, binding them closer together.

Your Thoughts …
Previous Post

US, South Korea and Japan Vow Tough Response to North Korea

Next Post

Coal Threatens to Rock the Boat Among Delta Islanders

The Irrawaddy

The Irrawaddy

...

Similar Picks:

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

November 28, 2023
75.1k
Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

November 29, 2023
66.5k
Drone Attack at Myanmar-China Border Gate Causes Over $14m in Losses

Drone Attack at Myanmar-China Border Gate Causes Over $14m in Losses

November 27, 2023
29.3k
Brotherhood Alliance Marching Towards Capital of Myanmar’s Kokang Region

Brotherhood Alliance Marching Towards Capital of Myanmar’s Kokang Region

November 25, 2023
26.7k
General Close to Myanmar Junta Boss Placed Under House Arrest, Interrogated for Corruption

General Close to Myanmar Junta Boss Placed Under House Arrest, Interrogated for Corruption

September 14, 2023
23.3k
Three Rebel Army Chiefs Predict Rapid Fall of Myanmar Junta

Three Rebel Army Chiefs Predict Rapid Fall of Myanmar Junta

August 18, 2023
21.5k
Load More
Next Post
Coal Threatens to Rock the Boat Among Delta Islanders

Coal Threatens to Rock the Boat Among Delta Islanders

Parliament Puts Controversial Defense Bill on Hold

Parliament Puts Controversial Defense Bill on Hold

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Illusion of Myanmar Military’s Indispensability Has Been Shattered

Illusion of Myanmar Military’s Indispensability Has Been Shattered

3 days ago
5.1k
Operation 1111 ‘Close to Securing All of Kayah State for Myanmar Resistance’

Operation 1111 ‘Close to Securing All of Kayah State for Myanmar Resistance’

3 days ago
2.7k

Most Read

  • Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

    Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Plays Up ‘Strong’ China Ties a Week After Anti-Beijing Protests

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar IDPs Stranded by Junta Troops in Northern Shan State Face a Long Walk Home

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Chief Says ‘Foreign Experts’ Helping in Offensive Against Military

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Features
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.