A radical Islamic group has sent dozens of men into Indonesia’s disaster-stricken province of Aceh and may be attempting to stir up sentiment against U.S. and Australian troops there, a prominent expert on Indonesian terrorism said Thursday. Members of the Laskar Mujahidin, the security arm of the Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia, have crossed into Aceh since the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami that battered the region, said Sidney Jones, Southeast Asia project director for the International Crisis Group. The group, along with another known as the Islamic Defenders Front, is “raising concerns that the presence of U.S. and Australian troops in Aceh to help the humanitarian aid effort masks a hidden agenda” of converting people to Christianity, Jones told a regional forum in Singapore. “They appear to see their role not only as helping victims, but as guarding against ‘kafir’ — infidel — influence,” Jones said. Full Story
About OODA Analyst
OODA is comprised of a unique team of international experts capable of providing advanced intelligence and analysis, strategy and planning support, risk and threat management, training, decision support, crisis response, and security services to global corporations and governments.