Indonesian Radical Group Claim Jihadists Will Go To Gaza
By Kenneth Conboy
On 6 February, the chairman of the Aceh provincial branch of the Indonesian Islamic Defender's Front claimed that two snipers and four suicide bombers would go to the Gaza Strip next week in order to fight against Israel. That chairman, Yusuf al Qardhani, claimed that they were selected from a group of 80 who passed a four-day interview and physical training in North Aceh district last month. He claimed that 50 out of the 80 were fit to be sent abroad; of the 50, they would be sent not only to Palestine but other Islamic countries as well. The six allegedly headed to Gaza were aged between 21 and 27. They had trained alongside an Indonesian named Abu Alyas, a veteran of the anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan who also fought with the Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines and is a member of Hamas.
The central office of the Islamic Defender's Front in Jakarta claimed that two other batches of jihadists had been sent to Gaza in January.
It should be noted that Indonesian radical groups, including the Islamic Defender's Front, have claimed to have dispatched jihadists to places like Lebanon and Afghanistan on several previous occasions since 2001. However, these have been largely dismissed as publicity stunts.
