The nature of terrorism is shifting. As a strategy favored by Islamic militants and separatists this nasty and virulent type of civilian-focused warfare had dominated the security landscape across Southeast Asia for much of the last decade. But as jihad groups likes Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) are routed, and the likes of the Abu Sayyaf are contained, other outfits with foreign agendas are stepping into the breach.
Their differences were highlighted in two capitals over the last fortnight; in Jakarta where the last of the Bali Bombers has gone on trial, and in Bangkok where a trail of tragic errors had unwittingly led Thai police to an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Israeli diplomats on Thai territory.
Speculation has firmed that the motive behind the botched plot – dubbed the Valentine’s Day Bombings – is linked to Israel’s well-publicized alleged assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists.
Two people have been held in Bangkok in connection with the Bangkok blasts, a third is expected to be extradited from Malaysia and a fourth, a woman who rented the house, is believed to be in Tehran and is also wanted. Two more – one spotted leaving the house shortly before the blast – are also wanted.
All are linked to Hezbollah, the Lebanese-based Shiite paramilitary group whose benefactors include Iran and Syria, and are largely regarded as a terrorist outfit by the West.
Israel was quick to blame Iran for targeting its diplomatic staff in Thailand, as well as India and Georgia, after a series of bombs was detonated in the three countries over a 24 hour period.
The Bangkok plot was initially uncovered after a bomb was mistakenly detonated – blowing up part of the roof of a house the bombers had rented. According to some accounts, the pair fled, one attempting to hail a taxi that refused to stop. A grenade was tossed amid terrified onlookers.They fled and were eventually cornered by police. A bag of grenades was thrown, but it missed and bounced off a tree, exploded and blew the leg off one of the bombers. In all, five people, including the Iranian, were injured in three explosions.
Their fate was dictated solely because Thailand remains an open country and prides itself on ease of access for foreigners of all backgrounds – the Iranians simply found this an easy place to operate.
That style of planning contrasts sharply with the ideology and methods deployed by the likes of JI acolyte Omar Patek, who appeared before a Jakarta court amid claims he was a key strategist behind the Bali Bombings of 2002 that left more than 200 dead, and a string of church bombings in Indonesia on Christmas Eve nearly two years earlier.
However, Patek can’t be charged under terrorism laws introduced in 2003 because they aren’t retrospective. Instead, he has been charged with harboring terrorists and possessing ammunition for the purposes of launching a training camp in Aceh in 2010.
He has also been charged in connection with the church bombings in Jakarta, but his lawyers are arguing Patek isn’t the strategic mastermind behind JI that the prosecution alleges.
A verdict isn’t expected until June.Read more.
