Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses - A DECLINING BUT PERSISTENT THREAT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

The declining number of the origins and evolution of an AQ-centric terrorist plots in the region coupled with sporadic Bangladeshi militant group, Jama'atul Ansar Fil attacks underscore the weakened but persistent Hindal Sharqiya (JAHS), and the country’s nature of the terrorist threat in the region. [...] Similar improvements in these Southeast Asian nations can be seen in the sister report to the GTI, the Global Peace Index, where Indonesia is ranked in the same ‘high’ level of peace band as Australia (with Malaysia being ‘very high’), and the Philippines and Thailand appearing in the middle band of ‘medium’ levels of peace.34 This speaks to the bigger picture that the GTI regularly illustrates –. [...] This was one factor, together with the burgeoning of far-right extremism and conspiracy theory fixations, which led the Australian authorities to recently raise the nation’s terrorism alert level from ‘possible’ to ‘probable’, returning it to the level set in September 2014 in the wake of the declaration of the IS caliphate.63 The destruction of Gaza has served to galvanise international attention. [...] Despite the obvious differences in context, it was remarkable how similar the challenges were between the EU Member States and Indonesian provinces regarding the implementation of initiatives – particularly around the management of tasks and input, the sharing of information, and the often-differing perspectives of those involved. [...] Since then, the RAB and the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crimes Unit (CTTCU) have arrested most of the JAFHS leaders and trained members in joint operations in the hills in the south-eastern region and other parts of the country, including the capital Dhaka.2 These arrests and subsequent investigations have revealed preliminary data covering various aspects, incl.