‘JI regaining strength, could spawn new generation of extremists’

JAKARTA: Southeast Asian militant group J em a ah Islamiyah, blamed for major attacks including the 2002 Bali bombings, has regained strength in Indonesia and could spawn a new generation of extremists, a leading security think- tank warned Thursday.

Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) does not pose an immediate threat and its leadership has for some years rejected violence to achieve its goal of forming an Islamic state, said the report from Jakarta group the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict ( IPAC).

But it is also building a clandestine military wing in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, and there is a risk a more militant faction could emerge from the wider organisation as it steps up recruitment, it said.

The military part of the organisation is not intended to be used in terror attacks. It is preparation for a potential future confrontation, but those who receive training will likely “be impatient to test their skills”, said the think-tank.

“The current JI could give rise to a more militant splinter that could be more professional in its organisation, training and recruitment than anything Indonesian extremism has to offer today,” said the report from IPAC, headed by veteran security analyst Sidney Jones.

JI was founded by a handful of exiled Indonesian militants in Malaysia in the 1980s, and grew to include cells across Southeast Asia. — AFP