Isis opened up a new front on Thursday by conducting a series of coordinated terrorist attacks in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. Luckily, only two civilians died in the attack while all five attackers were reported to have been killed. Indonesia has initiated a search operation against terrorist cells in the country but it must be said that the attacks caught everyone by surprise. The five-hour long IS onslaught could have taken more lives. Whether it was luck or the fact that Indonesia had already been on high alert after recent threats by Isis that saved lives is hard to say. It is no doubt a good thing that the attack did not become a major catastrophe like the Paris attacks in December last year. Reports say that one of the attackers was a previously convicted militant. On their part, Indonesians have projected a message of hope– that the country will not succumb to the culture of fear that terrorists wish to promote. But even so, fear has become the de facto principle that has guided much of the last two decades of global policymaking.
Indonesia has been the centre of major terrorist attacks during Al-Qaeda’s terror spree as well (remember Bali 2002). One major jailed cleric in the country recently pledged allegiance to Isis, which has reportedly increased support for the group. Nonetheless, the country had been incident free since 2009 – something that could be attributed to the 1000 convictions over charges of terrorism in the country. This attacks confirms that Isis wants to open a new front in South East Asia. The last few months have only confirmed to us the global scale of Isis’ appeal and organisational capacity. The danger the group poses only reaffirms the need for a global fight against the terrorist group – a fight that goes beyond the petty conflicts between different power players. The Jakarta attacks in some ways mirror the Paris attacks, which raises concerns over the increasing targeting of public spaces. Isis has shown its capacity to be able to conduct a coordinated attack despite strong surveillance. There are also newer patterns emerging in recent Isis attacks – with individuals choosing to conduct attacks themselves without central coordination. This new kind of threat is one that goes beyond fighting a terrorist group, but fighting the ideology and conditions that create it. And it is the ideological fight that the world has been slow to catch up to.