The Aceh-based militant network : a trigger for a view into the insightful complex of conceptual and historical links

Abstract

During February- April 2010 a militant network, known as Tandzim Al Qaeda Serambi Mekah, was discovered by the Indonesian police. Assessments and analyses that followed it pointed to a change or a shift in the strategic and operational thought

made by this Aceh-based militant network, including a change in prioritizing of

targets, namely prioritizing of “enemies” as targets for attack. This article asks to

offer varied insights into the strategic and operational thought of this network by

viewing it through both universal and local lenses. It is done by using a broader historical perspective that addresses global militant discourse, originated in the

Middle East in particular, and the case of Darul Islam (DI) rebellions in Indonesia of

the late 1940s to the early 1960s, that is considered to be significant for understanding

of current jihadism in Indonesia. In this way the discussed case of the Aceh-based

militant network is seen to suggest also a reminder that the multi-faceted contours of

Islamic radicalism and militancy in Indonesia tend to be revealed more clearly

through a view that catches both the Indonesian local context and the global context,

the Middle Eastern in particular; a view that requires a careful navigation between the universalities of the global aspects and the particularities of the local Indonesian

context.