How Terrorists Get Their Weapons?
Throughout 2000-2021 Indonesian terrorists continue to use firearms as their weapon of choice in their attacks on their enemies, particularly foreigners, security officers, and non-Muslims. The most recent attack involving a firearm took place at the Jakarta Police Headquarters on March 31, 2021. A woman fired a gun at the police officers. The shots were fired 6 times and luckily there were no casualties during the exchange of fire. This raises the questions to ponder;
How do these terrorists obtain their weapons? What can we do as a part of the Indonesian counter-terrorism business?
It is surmised that there are five possible ways for the terrorists to arm themselves with guns. The first one is by buying them from a local gunsmith or gun dealer online. The example of this method was seen in the case of the 2021 Jakarta Police Headquarters shooting. The perpetrator, Zakiah Aini, bought her airsoft gun from a seller, who happens to be a former terrorist inmate, online. Previously, in 2017 members of Jamaah Ansharud Daulah (JAD), a pro-Islamic State group, in Penatoi, Bima, West Nusa Tenggara bought handguns from.
They went to a gunsmith named Sukarmin alias Daeng Moa and asked him to assemble handmade guns for them. Sukarmin accepted their order and made two guns for them. He sold the guns for IDR 500,000 – 1,500,000 to them. Later on, they used the guns to shoot police officers in Bima on 11 September 2017.
In February 2016 two members of a JAD cell based in the Ansharullah school in Ciamis, West Java namely Pujianto aka Raider Bakiyah and Panji Kokoh Kusumo travelled to South Sumatra to buy guns from a local gunsmith. They planned to use the guns to attack and rob businessmen in Java and West Kalimantan. Their plan never saw the light of the day because police managed to arrest them on February 29, 2016 on their way home from buying the guns.
The second way is by making their own guns. In 2013-204 members of Jemaah Islamiyah built their own gun factory in Klaten, Central Java. They planned to use the guns to attack police officers across Java but were never able to materialize their plan because police managed to uncover it and shut down their gun factory.
The third way for the terrorists to obtain their weapons is by conducting an attack on security apparatuses to seize their guns. This is a risky method of obtaining guns, but the extremists have opted to use it because it offers a chance for them to get standard guns for free. This method was used successfully in an operation conducted by two JAD members in Cirebon, West Java on August 20, 2018. They ambushed and bashed a police officer, who was doing a night patrol, with an iron pipe and then stole his gun. Later on, on 24 August 2018 they used this weapon to attack police officers who were doing a night patrol in Cipali highway, Cirebon and killed one of the officers.
The fourth way is through weapon procurement overseas, particularly from South Thailand and South Philippines. Although the guns are expensive (around IDR 5-15 million per gun) and it is difficult to bring them to Indonesia, the terrorists use this method because it guarantees the good quality of the guns. Four terrorist groups, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), Kumpulan Mujahidin Indonesia (KMI), Abu Umar group and Jamaah Ansharud Daulah have used this method throughout 2000-2016. In the early 2000s JI purchased guns and ammunition in the South Philippines and smuggled them to Indonesia through Sangihe, North Sulawesi.
They planned to use the guns in their jihad operations in Indonesia targeting non-Muslims and Westerners. In December 2010, a KMI member named Fadli Sadama bought two revolvers from South Thailand gun dealers and attempted to smuggle them to Indonesia. Malaysian police arrested him for this attempt. In 2011, members of Abu Umar group bought rifles and handguns from the South Philippines and smuggled them to Indonesia through East Kalimantan. They planned to use the guns to attack police posts in Jakarta.
By November 2011, police managed to arrest them all before they launched the attack. In May 2015, a member of Mujahidin Indonesia Timur named Wahyudin aka Iron bought rifles and handguns from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members and smuggled them to Indonesia through Sangihe, North Sulawesi. He distributed the guns for Mujahidin Indonesia Timur, a pro-Islamic State terrorist group based in Poso, Central Sulawesi.
In 2015 JAD members bought rifles and handguns from MILF members in the South Philippines and smuggled them to Indonesia through Sangihe, North Sulawesi. The following is the detailed account of this weapon procurement. A JAD senior member, Suryadi Mas’ud aka Abu Ridho handled this procurement under the instruction of Iwan Dharmawan Mutho aka Rois, a terrorist inmate in a Nusa Kambangan prison, Central Java.
During a prison visit, Rois who is the mastermind behind the 2016 Jakarta attacks gave a task to Suryadi Mas’ud to smuggle 28 assault rifles from the Philippines to Indonesia. Suryadi Mas’ud agreed. In September 2015, he flew with his wife to the Philippines to do a survey on the gun smuggling route. He travelled to Camp Khalid, an MILF base in Maasim, Sarangani Province to find a way in smuggling the guns. He also bought guns from his MILF friend.
He returned to the Philippines in November 2015 and started to check on the assault rifles he was going to buy. He took a picture of each rifle and sent it to Rois. When Rois liked the rifle, Mas’ud would test the gun before buying it. JAD spent around IDR 150,000,000 to purchase 18 assault rifles including a M14 rifle and 17 M16 rifles, and 5 revolvers. Suryadi Mas’ud then organised the shipping of these rifles to Indonesia. He hired a fisherman to smuggle the revolvers to Sangihe to see if the revolvers arrived there safely; and left the rifles with his MILF friend in Maasim.
Upon their arrival in Sangihe, Rois organised the weapon pick-up from the prison. He tasked JAD leader, Zaenal Anshori, to pick them up. Zaenal Anshori went to Sangihe and collected them from the fishermen.
In June 2016, Suryadi Mas’ud travelled to the South Philippines again and bought another 12 rifles for USD 5,000. He was unsure if the Sangihe route was the safest route to smuggle all of the rifles. Therefore, he devised a plan to smuggle them through Nunukan or Tarakan, East Kalimantan. He never managed to materialise his plan because police arrested him before he did that on March 23, 2017.
The fifth way is by stealing guns from a gun depot in prison. This was the case with Katibah Nusantara members who stole 9 hand guns from the gun depot in Tangerang Prison around January 23, 2016. They tasked a non-terrorist inmate named Woro aka Toro to do that and paid him using the money sent by the Katibah Nusantara leader in Syria, Bahrumsyah. They planned to use the guns to attack police officers. Police managed to arrest them before but never managed to materialize their plan.
Future Outlook and Recommendation
The fact that a terrorist inmate like Rois could organize an attack and a weapon procurement from Nusakambangan high-security prison highlights some flaws in the Indonesian security system. Thus, some effort is needed to further prevent the terrorist attacks and radicalization efforts. The government and its agencies should remain aware to the destabilizing activities especially those pro-IS ones conducted by Jihadi groups due to the existence of some remnants which potentially can be IS militants.
The security in the Indonesian prison should also be strengthened. First action to be taken is by limiting the visit access to the terrorist inmates.
This is to minimize the religious propagations which may lead to a radicalization process. Second, checking the information and the goods that the inmates receive and that they send outside the prisons. As aforementioned, the fact that a terrorist inmate could have access to a cellular phone should be considered as a warning that the Indonesian prison system’s security remains compromised.
The government also needs to list all gunsmiths and update their buyers regularly to prevent illegal procurement of guns from the extremists.
Another aspect to be considered is securing the borders between Indonesia and its neighbouring country to limit smuggling of terrorist information and weaponry. With many Indonesian mujahedeen crossing the border between Indonesia and the nearest countries like Malaysia or the Philippines to join a paramilitary training or to smuggle the weapons; it shows that the Indonesian government needs to tighten the security at the borders.
Increasing the numbers of guards in border-zone such as Sangihe and Talaud in the northern parts of Sulawesi or Nunukan and Tarakan in the northern part of Kalimantan should be considered. The apparatuses need to do some extra check-ups not only to the people but also to the goods they are carrying in and outside the country.
Lastly, as terrorists also bought guns online, the government needs to regulate ecommerce providers strictly by banning them from selling guns online.
