Rise Again, Indonesian Police Reveal 370 Terrorism Suspects in 2021

The number of terrorism suspects in Indonesia increased again last year. According to a report by the Indonesian National Police (Polri), there were 370 terrorism suspects in the country in 2021.

This is a significant increase from the 232 suspects in the previous year, representing a 59.48% rise compared to 2020.

Despite the increase in suspects, the number of terrorist attacks decreased by 7 cases, or 53.8%, last year. There were 13 terrorist attacks in 2020, compared to only 6 in 2021.

Over the past five years, the number of terrorism suspects has fluctuated. The highest number in this period was in 2018, with 396 suspects, while the lowest was in 2017, with 176 suspects.

Several terrorism cases in 2021 garnered public attention, including the bombing of Makassar Cathedral Church. This attack, which occurred on March 28, 2021, was carried out by L and YSF, members of the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) group.

Another notable incident was the attack on the National Police Headquarters (Mabes Polri) by a woman identified as ZA, a lone wolf attacker, on March 31, 2021. ZA entered Mabes Polri and attempted to shoot, but was apprehended and subsequently died.

Furthermore, a terrorism case in Sukoharjo recently drew public attention. A terrorist suspect, Dr. Sunardi, was shot and killed by Densus 88 on Wednesday, March 9, 2022.

Most recently, Mabes Polri announced the arrest of terrorist suspects who are civil servants (PNS) or state civil apparatus (ASN). A total of 15 civil servants have been implicated as terrorism suspects from 2021-2022.