from Bill Roggio - February 23., 2012. - LWJ
The US government has added an Indonesian group and three of its
leaders who are responsible for attacks in the country to the list of
terrorist organizations and individuals.
Today the
State Department added the Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid
(JAT), or the Partisans of the Oneness of God, to the list of Foreign
Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorist
entities.
The Treasury Department added
Mochammad Achwan, the terror group's emir; Son Hadi bin Muhadjir, its
spokesman; and Abdul Rosyid Ridho Ba'asyir, a JAT leader involved in
recruiting members and financing operations, to the list of Specially
Designated Global Terrorists.
"JAT is responsible for multiple coordinated attacks against innocent
civilians, police, and military personnel in Indonesia," the State
Department said in its designation of the terror group. "JAT seeks to
establish an Islamic caliphate in Indonesia, and has carried out
numerous attacks on Indonesian Government personnel and civilians in
order to achieve this goal," the State designation continued.
Among the attacks carried out by JAT are the Sept. 25, 2011 suicide
bombing at a church in Central Java that wounded dozens of worshipers,
and
a suicide attack at a mosque in West Java on April 15, 2011 that wounded 28 policemen.
The US government said that JAT was founded in 2008 by Abu Bakar
Bashir, the spiritual leader and cofounder of Jemaah Islamiyah, an al
Qaeda affiliate in Southeast Asia that has been behind numerous terror
attacks in Indonesia.
Bashir was arrested
by Indonesian police in August 2010 on terrorism charges. In June 2011,
a court found Bashir guilty of "committing a criminal act of terrorism"
by founding and supporting a terrorist group known as al Qaeda in Aceh.
One year later, he was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Washington Time
Kabul Time
London Time
