Islamic State: Indonesian mosques accused of supporting radical group’s ideology

Dozens of mosques across Indonesia are under surveillance for supporting the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, spreading its ideology and recruiting fighters to go to Syria.

Key points:

• Researchers attended mosques and Koran reading groups for information
• IS sympathisers increasingly holding private meetings
• Mosque accused of preaching the IS ideology denies claims

The ABC can reveal 41 mosques across 16 Indonesian provinces have been implicated in research conducted on behalf of the Indonesian Government.

Of those, 16 mosques in seven provinces have been officially confirmed as supporting the IS group by a team of researchers who have, and continue to, secretly infiltrate the places of worship.

In an exclusive interview with the ABC, the head of the research team and Indonesian terrorism analyst Adhe Bhakti said Islamic boarding schools and Koran reading groups were also being used as places to preach the radical IS ideology.

“We found different forms, different functions of the mosques,” Mr Bhakti said.

“Some were purely used as a place to spread ideology, some were used as a place of consolidation, even the caretakers of the mosque would act as travel agents for those willing to go to Syria.

Source: Islamic State: Indonesian mosques accused of supporting radical group’s ideology – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)