Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which translates to “Islamic group”, is a southeast Asian militant group formed in the early 1990s with goals to spread a radical sect of Islam known as Darul Islam. Based in Indonesia, the network is now a transnational organization with groups in Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
In JI’s first couple years of formation they took on mostly peaceful means of action however by the mid-nineties the group took on more violent means. This switch to violence is believed to be triggered by the connection made between JI and Al-Qaeda and ohther various other radical Islamic groups. This influenced the belief that the only way JI could achieve it’s goals is through a “holy war”. Due to the number of unintended Muslim casualties in JI’s new method of attack, the group split into two factions – violence vs. proselytizers.
The group’s existence was discovered in late 2001 after authorities in Singapore disrupted a cell that was planning to attack targets in US Navy. According to the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, JI is responsible for a series of deadly bombings targeting Western interests in Indonesia and the Philippines from 2000-2005, including attacks in 2002 in two nightclubs in Bali that killed 202 people; the 2003 car bombing of the Marriott hotel in Jakarta that killed 12; the 2004 truck bombing of the Australian Embassy that killed 11; and the 2005 suicide bombing of three establishments in Bali that killed 22.
According to the BBC, Pressure form foreign counterparts has increased Indonesia’s crackdown on JI members since 2002. This includes the killing and imprisonment of several key leaders as well as more than 200 arrests of suspected members, which has significantly degraded JI’s network.