Jakarta Outrage Cannot Go Unheeded

AsiaOne

15 January 2016

Yesterday’s bomb attacks in Jakarta set alarm bells ringing across Southeast Asia and underscored the need for ASEAN to forge a united front against the growing menace of terrorism. The region is no stranger to terrorist activity, but fresh ideas and actions are now needed to combat the shocking escalation in violence witnessed yesterday.

Suicide bombers struck the Indonesian capital with a series of explosions and gunfire that tore through a coffee shop and rocked an embassy district in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.

As of press time last night, no one had claimed responsibility for the attacks, though the style of the bombing has raised suspicions of involvement by Islamic State.

… Kumar Ramakrishna, a counter-terrorism analyst at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, points to another concern: the threat of Southeast Asian fighters radicalised in Iraq or Syria returning home to wage jihad here. Meanwhile security forces must contend with the possibility of self-radicalised lone wolves appearing on the scene.

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Last updated on 15/01/2016