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7. THE KATIBAH NUSANTARA: NEW STRATEGIC ACTOR OR JUST ANOTHER
SPLINTER OF THE BROKEN MIRROR? On 26 September 2014, the Katibah Nusantara Lid Daulah Islamiyah or the Malay Archipelago
Unit for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria was formally launched, headquartered in Al- Shadadi, in the Syrian province of Hasaka
Singh, Katibah Nusantara: Islamic State’s Malay Archipelago Combat Unit 2015. Its presence in Syria gives them the opportunity to train,
regroup, organise and cultivate a new generation of leadership AustraliaIsrael Jewish Affairs Council 2016.
Today the terror group is only six months old. The unit has at least twenty-two 22 members with combat experience and was formed
because of their lack of English and Arabic proficiency. However, in Indonesia – initially
thought to be only about 100
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– the logistics, weapons from the Philippines, and the homemade bombs were crude and effective to a limit.
Evidence for the link between the Katibah Nusantara and the attackers is confirmed linking multiple interests to groups such as the East Indonesian Mujahidin. Naim was arrested in 2010
for the possession of ammunition and was sentenced to one 1 year in jail AFP 2016. During the follow up arrests, police established that Naim funded the operations transferring monies
from Syria to the arrested ISILIS extremists using Western Union. By March 4, 2015, Malaysian police reported a new group called
Majmu’ah al-Arkhabiliy consisting of Malaysians and Indonesians and being uncovered by the Malaysian security
services. The group is said to be under the command of the IS and was detected in 2014. To be noted here, the Malaysians, prior to calling themselves the
Majmu’ah al-Arkhabiliy, the wing went by the name Katibah Nusantara Lid Daulah Islamiah in Syria and Iraq Malay Mail 2015.
This would establish the direct connection between the suicide attempt in Kuala Lumpur and the action in Jakarta on the same day.
By 18 January 2016, country-wide police sweeps arrested additionally 12 individuals linked to the January 2016 Jakarta attack. All arrested were linked in some way to Bahrun Naim, residing
in Bekasi, Cirebon, West Java and Tegal in Central Java Arnaz, Jakarta Globe 2016. On- going investigations were expanded to East Kalimantan, East Java and Jakarta leading to a
rounding up of fourteen 14 suspects on 18 January 2015 with most of them having ties to the Islamic extremist network in Aceh and having participated in the 2012 training camp
Promchertchoo 2016. Reports emerged suggesting Islamic State is expanding to East Java, Lampung Sumatra, Central Sulawesi, South Sulawesi and West Sulawesi Chan, Straits
Times 2015. The two attackers who died in a suicide bombing were identified as Dian Juni Kurniadi alias
Dian Joni Kurniadi, 25 Soeriaatmadja, Straits Times 2016 and Ahmad Muhazab Saron, alias Muhazan Ahmad bin Saroni alias Ahmad Muhazin, born 5 July 1990 Tokohpenemu 2016.
He was identified as a day student in a pesantren in Subang, West Java, best known for hosting Noordin Top in 2005 Conflict 2016
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.
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Note. Competing information suggests as many as 600 to 1,000
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Ahmad Muhazan is a protégé of Ali Hamka, head of JAK for Indramayu; page 10
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Dian Juni Kurniadi attempted to purchase firearms from an Indonesian man called Hendro
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alias Hendro Fernando alias Edo Aliando. Hendro is the son in law of Hasyim Abdullah the personal assistant of Abu Bakar Ba’asyir. The contacts were established through a go-between
in prison. The other cell purchased the bomb casing. Two attackers who died in a shootout with the police were named as Afif, aka Sunakim aka
Sunardi age unknown, and secondly Marwan, aka Muhammad Ali aged 3940. Afif was shot by police while Muhammad Ali killed by his own bomb that also killed a Canadian
Muslim, Amel Quali Taher Conflict 2016
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. Afif, originally from Karawang, West Java, married with a 7-year old daughter, first came to
the attention of authorities in 2010 having trained in the Islamic paramilitary camp in the Aceh
region. He was sentenced to seven 7 years of jail but released in 2015 AFP 2016. In prison, Afif refused to participate in the de-radicalization program Reuters 2016. His wife, only
known by the initials I.Y, moved into the rented premises in Bogor a few days before the attack Saudale and Marsiela 2016.
Sunakim was reported by his cellmate Muhammad Jibril declaring himself a Takfiri, even before the IS rose to jihadist power Chan and Soeriaatmadja, Straits Times 2014. As a
teenager, he attended the Pondok Pesantren Miftahus Sa’adah, a moderate Islamic boarding
school, and was expelled from the school as a 16-year-old because he attempted to force extremist views on to his classmates.
Afif, aka Sunakim aka Sunardi
The original plan was to launch separate attacks with nine firearms the group had procured. The reasons for a premature attack will likely emerge in the interrogation protocols in due time
but we suspect the cell feared the government was ready to dismantle it, hence, it struck prematurely. Aggressive pursuit by Indonesian police likely contributed to the dismantling of
this particular nine-man cell.
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Indonesia arrests 6 over planned terror attack; Strait Times, 23 January 2016; page A8
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8. BLURRING THE LINES: TERRORISM OR CRIMINAL COPYCAT?
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