Indonesia’s new police chief: Region needs ‘to stick together against Abu Sayyaf’

Natashya Gutierrez

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Indonesia’s new police chief: Region needs ‘to stick together against Abu Sayyaf’

GATTA DEWABRATA

New police chief Tito Karnavian urges cooperation between the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia in addressing the terrorist group

JAKARTA, Indonesia – A day before the government officially announced the kidnapping of 7 Indonesian sailors, former National Counterterrorism Agency Head and newly appointed police chief Tito Karnavian already warned the need to unite against the Philippine-based Abu Sayyaf terror group.

Earlier this year, the group kidnapped 14 Indonesian sailors, keeping them in their stronghold in the southern Philippines. They were later freed but there was no information on whether a ransom was paid.

The Abu Sayyaf are suspected to be behind the most recent kidnapping.

“It is very important to get a close relationship with the Philippines and Malaysia authorities,” Karnavian said on Thursday evening, June 24.

Because the Abu Sayyaf operate in waters close to the borders of Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia, he emphasized the need for the 3 countries to unite and cooperate against the group. 

The group currently holds several Malaysian victims hostage, among other foreign nationals.

“We need to stick together,” he said.

Karnavian, who has specialized in counterterrorism for decades, said they are also constantly studying the changing structure of Abu Sayyaf, and hopes to form an information and intelligence-sharing partnership with the two countries.

Because of the increasing threat of terrorism in the region, he also said a regional counterterrorism conference will be hosted in August likely in Bali, but he said he would like his successor “to organize a sideline meeting on the issue of the Abu Sayyaf.”

Karnavian said there was also a need to discuss Uighurs militants, alleged to be behind the bombing in Bangkok that killed 20 people in August.

“It’s an issue encompassing the region… something needs to be done,” he said.

Ransom?

The Sulu and Celebes seas form a key waterway between Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia, and are used for the passage of 55 million metric tonnes of goods and over 18 million people per year.

Last month, the 3 countries agreed to launch a coordinated patrol of the waters after the recent surge of kidnappings.

The Indonesian sailors abducted this week were towing a coal barge through the Sulu sea when their tugboat was attacked by gunmen.

Sulu, a southern archipelago, is a known hideout of Abu Sayyaf Islamic militants who have earned millions of dollars from kidnappings in recent years.

A spokesman for the foreign ministry said he could not confirm whether a ransom demand had been made, or if Abu Sayyaf was responsible for the abductions.

On June 13, the group beheaded another Canadian, after the lapse of a deadline for ransom. – with reports from Agence France-Presse and Zachary Lee/Rappler.com 

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Natashya Gutierrez

Natashya is President of Rappler. Among the pioneers of Rappler, she is an award-winning multimedia journalist and was also former editor-in-chief of Vice News Asia-Pacific. Gutierrez was named one of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders for 2023.