Eurasia Review
08 October 2016
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- Operation Tinombala: Indonesia’s New Counter-Terrorism Strategy – Analysis
Operation Tinombala: Indonesia’s New Counter-Terrorism Strategy – Analysis
The serious threat posed by the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has led to an expansion of the Indonesian military’s role in counter-terrorism. This was demonstrated in Operation Tinombala that disabled the Mujahidin Indonesia Timur (MIT) and its leaders.
The success of the combined Indonesian military and police operation against the home-grown militants network in Eastern Indonesia, named Operation Tinombala, highlights the new phase of the republic’s counter terrorism strategy. This phase was brought about by the rise of the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), also known as IS, whose members and supporters possessed well-trained combat skills and pursue a more symmetrical capability against the security forces.
The Indonesian political leadership in the beginning of 2015 tasked the military (TNI) with the responsibility of terminating the threat posed by the MIT, led by the elusive Santoso. In June 2015 the military’s Joint Special Operations Command was launched. The military undertook Operation Tinombala and worked in concert with the police to terminate the group’s top leaders. For all intents and purposes the group has been largely neutralised.
… Jasminder Singh is a Senior Analyst with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
ICPVTR / Online
