ISIS Support Rising in World's Largest Muslim Nation; Jihadists Post Photo of Baby Between Gun and Grenade
Australian reports have claimed that support for the Islamic State terror group is rising in Indonesia, the largest Muslim nation in the world, with an active recruitment center operating in the capital, Jakarta.
Fairfax Media reported on exclusive footage obtained through Indonesian terrorism analyst and documentary filmmaker Noor Huda Ismail, which shows young Indonesian men inside the al-Fataa mosque pledging allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
IS has recruited tens of thousands of foreign fighters from across the world in its efforts to establish an Islamic Caliphate on the territories of Iraq and Syria, and has rallied extremist factions from various countries.
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Indonesia is home to close to 12.7 percent of the entire Muslim population in the world, and according to the Fairfax report, it is experiencing a rise in extremism support. The footage captured from the mosque reportedly shows Fauzan al-Anshori, a former devotee of the extremist cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, leading the young men into prayer and an oath of devotion to Baghdadi.
The al-Fataa administrators have denied that they support IS, but said that anyone can come to the mosque to pray, as long as it is in observance of Islamic law.
"Anyone can come here as long as their rituals are in accordance with Shariah," an administator identified as Farihin said. "The activities are just a response to what is happening in the Middle East."
Budi Waluyo, an associate of Farihin, added in the same interview that people do come to the mosque to learn about IS' message.
"So many people are interested in Islamic State since the caliphate was declared by Sheikh al-Baghdadi [in June last year]," Waluyo said. "They are curious and come to listen. They have different levels of understanding and knowledge of the Quran.
"Some get really deep into the doctrine. Then we talk about different things like how to collect finances," he added.
The report noted that thousands of Indonesias are believed to have pledged allegiance to IS, and somewhere between 300 to 700 have traveled to Syria to join its ranks.
Besides recruitment operations, IS supporters have also been indoctrinating youths into joining the terrorists.
IS has released several videos of young boys dressed in uniforms performing military drills and pledging allegiance to the jihadists, calling them "cubs of the caliphate."
The Islamic extremists have also targeted newborns, and the Fairfax report shared an image of an infant lying beside a grenade and a gun next to a message in Indonesian which translates to: "Uncles and aunts come and fight in Syria for jihad wherever you are."
The photo is very similar to another image spread through social media in April, where another infant is seen lying beside a gun, a hand grenade, and an IS birth certificate. The photo also included a message, which warned that the child will grow up to be a threat.
"By showing the birth certificate, and the fact that the group are indoctrinating babies, I think IS are indicating they will be around for a long time," a terrorism expert at the Australian National University said back then.
