Indonesian policemen escorting one of two terror suspects link to Central Jakarta's Sarinah bomb on March 2, 2016, in Malang, East Java. - AFP FILE
JAKARTA: A decade after the deadly Sarinah attack that shook the nation, Indonesia has seen a gradual decline in conventional terrorist incidents, though authorities warn that extremist threats are shifting to cyberspace.
Wednesday (Jan 14) marked 10 years since multiple explosions and gunfire erupted near the Sarinah shopping mall at the intersection of Jl. MH Thamrin and KH Wahid Hasyim in Central Jakarta, a busy area home to malls, government offices, and embassies.
The attack began on the morning of Jan 14, 2016, with a series of blasts, including a suicide explosion near a Starbucks cafe close to the Sarinah complex and another close to the nearby police station.
Attackers then opened fire in the bustling intersection, sending the area into panic.
Authorities later confirmed that militants linked to the Islamic State (IS) group carried out the assault, which left eight people dead, including four attackers, and wounded at least 24 others. Victims included civilians, security personnel and foreign nationals.
The Sarinah incident joined a list of high-profile terrorist attacks in Indonesia, including the 2002 Bali bombings and the 2009 Jakarta bombings, both carried out by the South-East Asian extremist network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) with ties to al-Qaeda.
Since then, Indonesia has experienced other violent extremist acts, notably the 2017 suicide bombing at Kampung Melayu bus stop in East Jakarta and the 2021 cathedral bombing in Makassar.
However, experts say terrorist incidents in Indonesia have declined in recent years, reflecting a broader global downturn in organised extremist movements.
“The local situation is relatively safer now because the global trend of organised terrorism is also declining,” anti-terrorism researcher Noor Huda Ismail told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Rakyan Adibrata, country director for the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals (IACSP) Indonesia, echoed the view, noting that terrorism in Indonesia “always has a global, transnational context” rather than being purely local.
Rakyan cited a National Police Counterterrorism Special Detachment 88 (Densus 88) report last year, which recorded zero terrorist attacks, a status that has been maintained since 2023.
“The report showed that while attempts at extremist acts occurred last year, they were not well-organised [and tended to be] smaller and more individualistic,” he explained. The National Police’s Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim) chief, Comr. Gen. Syahardiantono said Densus 88 arrested 51 terrorism suspects last year, down from 55 in 2024 and 147 in 2023.
But Rakyan stressed that the lower number of attacks “does not equate to zero risk,” especially from lone actors.
Experts warned that the threat of terrorism has now shifted toward the digital sphere, where social media and online forums provide fertile ground for spreading extremist ideologies, particularly among younger, tech-savvy generations.
Analyst Noor highlighted how extremists can exploit personal grievances online, making previously educated youths vulnerable to radical narratives.
“Radicalisation is often misunderstood as a product of poverty or lack of education, but many radicalised youth are actually educated, digitally literate and socially connected,” he said.
“Their exposure to [extremist ideologies] on social media could easily trigger their grievances.”
He added that online radicalisation in recent years has extended beyond Islamist extremism to include white supremacy, neo-Nazi and conspiracy-driven movements, often propagated through gaming platforms and other online forums.
Densus 88 stated in their year-end report that 68 children across 18 provinces have been exposed to neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideologies online, with many recruitment efforts targeting minors.
The risk became evident in November last year, when a series of explosions at SMAN 72 senior high school in North Jakarta injured 96 people.
Police named a 17-year-old student as the suspect, describing him as introverted and driven by pent-up resentment toward his surroundings.
Investigators said the teenager lacked a safe outlet to express his emotions and felt isolated at both home and school. He was also found to have frequently accessed violent content online and to have been involved in an online community that glorified acts of violence.
“It’s becoming increasingly important for the Communications and Digital Ministry and educational institutions to take this issue seriously,” Noor said, calling for stronger preventive measures from the government.
Second deputy communications and digital minister Nezar Patria did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comments. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
