Indonesia's JI terror group declares dissolution but threat stays: Analysts

They say potential splinter groups could use violence to show commitment to jihad

- Arlina Arshad

JAKARTA - Key members of the terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) in Indonesia have dissolved the organisation but analysts caution that the threat posed by the group, which has claimed responsibility for a string of deadly attacks in the region, remains potent.

In a video declaration made at the National Counter Terrorism Agency in Bogor, near Jakarta, on June 30, its senior leader, Abu Rusdan, said that JI's senior council and the leaders of the group's affiliated Islamic boarding schools "have agreed to declare the dissolution of the JI and return to Indonesia's embrace".

Abu Rusdan, a militant cleric and former JI leader arrested in Bekasi in September 2021, made the statement alongside other key figures, including Para Wijayanto, one of the most wanted terrorists in South-east Asia who was arrested in 2019 for recruiting militants and raising funds for Syria.

"(We) are ready to be actively involved in promoting (the country's) independence so that Indonesia becomes an advanced and dignified nation," he said. "(We are) ready to follow the legal regulations."