Country Reports on Terrorism 2012

JEMAAH ISLAMIYA
aka Jemaa Islamiyah; Jema’a Islamiyah; Jemaa Islamiyya; Jema’a Islamiyya; Jemaa
Islamiyyah; Jema’a Islamiyyah; Jemaah Islamiah; Jemaah Islamiyah; Jema’ah Islamiyah;
Jemaah Islamiyyah; Jema’ah Islamiyyah; JI
Description: Designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on October 23, 2002, Jemaah
Islamiya (JI) is a Southeast Asia-based terrorist group co-founded by Abu Bakar Ba’asyir and
Abdullah Sungkar that seeks the establishment of an Islamic caliphate spanning Indonesia,
Malaysia, southern Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, and the southern Philippines. More than 400 JI
operatives have been captured since 2002, including operations chief and al-Qa’ida associate
Hambali. In 2006, several members connected to JI’s 2005 suicide attack in Bali were arrested;
in 2007, Muhammad Naim (a.k.a. Zarkasih) and JI military commander Abu Dujana were
arrested; and in 2008, two senior JI operatives were arrested in Malaysia and a JI-linked cell was
broken up in Sumatra. In September 2009, JI-splinter group leader Noordin Mohammad Top was
killed in a police raid. Progress against JI continued in February 2010, when Indonesian National
Police discovered and disbanded a violent extremist training base in Aceh in which members of
JI and other Indonesian violent extremist groups participated. The police raid resulted in the
capture of more than 60 militants, including some JI operatives, and led authorities to former JI
leader Dulmatin, one of the planners of the 2002 Bali bombing. In March 2010, Dulmatin was
killed outside of Jakarta. In June 2010, wanted JI commander Abdullah Sunata was captured
while planning to bomb the Danish Embassy in Jakarta. In January 2011, JI member Umar Patek
was captured in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and put on trial in Indonesia, where he was convicted and
sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2012 for his role in the Bali bombing.
Activities: In December 2001, Singaporean authorities uncovered a JI plot to attack U.S., Israeli,
British, and Australian diplomatic facilities in Singapore. Other significant JI attacks include the
2002 Bali bombings, which killed more than 200, including seven U.S. citizens; the August 2003
bombing of the J. W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta; the September 2004 bombing outside the
Australian Embassy in Jakarta; and JI’s October 2005 suicide bombing in Bali, which killed 26,
including the three suicide bombers.
On July 17, 2009, a JI faction led by Top conducted the group’s most recent high-profile attacks,
when two suicide bombers detonated explosive devices at the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton
hotels in Jakarta, killing seven and injuring more than 50, including seven Americans. The
Philippine military announced it had killed two JI members in separate incidents in the south of
the country in late 2012, including one of the group’s senior-most representatives to the
Philippines.
Strength: Estimates of total JI members vary from 500 to several thousand.
Location/Area of Operation: JI is based in Indonesia and is believed to have elements in
Malaysia and the Philippines.
Funding and External Aid: Investigations have indicated that JI is fully capable of its own
fundraising through membership donations and criminal and business activities. It has received
financial, ideological, and logistical support from Middle Eastern contacts and NGOs.
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