South East Asia | May 06, 2017
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As reported by The Diplomat on 1 June 2022, the Islamic State group (IS) has announced that Abu Zacharia is the new leader for its so-called East Asia province encompassing Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. Meanwhile in Indonesia, UCA News reported on 7 June 2022 that the leader of Islamist movement Jamaah Khilafatul Muslimin (JKM) has been arrested and faces charges of treason for staging ‘subversive’ motorcycle rallies on 29 May calling for an Islamic caliphate.
World Watch Research analyst Thomas Muller comments: “IS’s announcement of a new regional leader is an attempt to remind the world that it is still a force to be reckoned with in Southeast Asia, even if there have been no major operations in the last months. Whether this indicates that there will now be an increase in attacks coming or further decline, remains to be seen. At any rate, radical Islam is alive and kicking in Indonesia as can be seen by the motorcycle rallies in Brebes district of Central Java province and Jakarta. The JKM is said to be an offshoot of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), an Islamist group banned in 2017 also for rejecting the national ideology Pancasila and calling for a caliphate to be set up. Both reports are unnerving for religious minorities in the region and the Christian community will be watching developments carefully.”
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