US labels Indonesia's JAD as 'terror group'

This article is more than 12 months old

Jan 12, 2017 06:00 am

JAKARTA: The US has designated an Indonesian extremist network that carried out a deadly attack in Jakarta last year as a terrorist organisation.

This network has been linked to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The US State Department said on Tuesday that Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) is "a terrorist group based in Indonesia that was formed in 2015 and is composed of almost two dozen Indonesian extremist groups" who are followers of ISIS.

The US also announced sanctions against four militants as part of efforts to cut off ISIS' access to the international financial system.

US officials said militants from JAD carried out an armed suicide attack in the Indonesian capital in January last year that left four civilians and four attackers dead in the first ISIS-sponsored attack in South-east Asia.

The attack was financially supported by an ISIS militant in Syria, they said.. - AFP