Counterterrorism Special Detachment 88 ( id, Detasemen Khusus 88 Antiteror), or Densus 88, is a tier one

Indonesian National Police '' , mottotranslated = (Serving the Nation) , formed = , preceding1 = , dissolved = , superseding = , employees = 440,000 (2020) , volunteers = , budget = , nongovernment ...

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...

squad formed on 30 June 2003, after the

2002 Bali bombings The 2002 Bali bombings occurred on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attack killed 202 people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 23 Britons, and people of more than 20 other national ...

. It is funded, equipped, and trained by the United States through the Diplomatic Security Service's Antiterrorism Assistance Program and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. The unit has worked with considerable success against the

jihadi Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...

terrorist cells linked to

Central Java Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakart ...

–based Islamist movement Jemaah Islamiyah.

History

Detachment 88 was formed after the

and became operational in 2003. The name of the organization is a result of a senior Indonesian police official mishearing "ATA" in a briefing on the Diplomatic Security Service's Antiterrorism Assistance Program as "88". He thought it would be a good name as the number 8 is a lucky number in Asia and other officials lacked the courage to correct him.Conboy, Ken. (2006) ''The Second Front: Inside Asia's Most dangerous Terrorist Network'', Equinox Publishing, p. 23 The bilateral initiative that started Detachment 88 also started Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC). In July 2003, the first 30 Indonesian National Police officers were trained under to serve as the unit's first members under the Anti-Terrorism Assistance Initiative.http://repository.uinsby.ac.id/id/eprint/1173/1/Muhammad%20Qobidl%20'Ainul%20Arif_Behind%20the%20Gun%20of%20Densus%2088.pdf Detachment 88 has disrupted the activities of

–based Islamist movement Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and many of JI's top operatives have been arrested or killed. Abu Dujana, suspected leader of JI's military wing and its possible emir, was apprehended on June 9, 2007.

Azahari Husin Dr. Azahari bin Husin (14 September 1957 – 9 November 2005), also Azahari Husin, Azhari Husin, was a Malaysian who was believed to be the technical mastermind behind the Philippine consulate bombing in Jakarta, Jakarta Stock Exchange bomb ...

was shot and killed in 2005. The Indonesian terrorist organization suffered a further blow when arguably its last surviving and at-large prominent figure, Noordin Mohammad Top was killed in a shootout with Detachment 88 on 17 September 2009 at Solo, Central Java. Detachment 88 is assisted by foreign agencies, including the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. ...

, in forensic sciences including DNA analysis, and communications monitoring. In pre-emptive strikes in Java, the unit thwarted attack plans to material assembly. Detachment 88 operators were involved in an operation in Poso, where 10 people, including a policeman, were killed in a gunfight during a high-risk arrest operation on 22 January 2007. In 2007, Detachment 88 arrested and interrogated West Papuan human rights lawyer, Iwangin Sabar Olif, and charged him with incitement and insulting the head of state, because he sent an SMS text message critical of the Indonesian military and president. Six members of a little-known terror cell called Katibah GR, or Cell GR, were arrested by counter- terrorism unit Densus 88 after carrying out a raid in Batam in August 2016. Police said their leader had been planning a rocket attack on Marina Bay, Singapore together with a Syrian-based Indonesian ISIS militant.

Training

This special unit is being funded by the

US government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

through its State Department's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), under the ATA. The unit is currently being trained in Megamendung, 50 km south of Jakarta, by the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

, FBI, US Secret Service, and

. Most of these instructors were ex-US special forces personnel.Pasukan Khusus Polri Dilatih CIA
. Retrieved on 29 January 2007. Training is also carried out with the aid of Australian Special Forces and various intelligence agencies. Detachment 88 is designed to become an anti-terrorist unit that is capable of countering various terrorist threats, from bomb threats to hostage situations. This 400-personnel strong special force went fully operational in 2005. It consists of investigators, explosive experts, and an attack unit that includes snipers. As of 2017, the unit have 1,300 personnel assigned to it.

Weapons

Detachment 88 officers are frequently seen armed with a M4A1 carbine when an operation or a raid is being conducted while the Glock 17 pistol is used as the standard sidearm. They also use a varied arsenal of weapons such as the Heckler & Koch MP5

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...

, Heckler & Koch MP7 Submachine gun,

Steyr AUG The Steyr AUG () is an Austrian bullpup assault rifle chambered for the 5.56×45mm NATO intermediate cartridge, designed in the 1960s by Steyr-Daimler-Puch, and now manufactured by Steyr Arms GmbH & Co KG. It was adopted by the Austrian A ...

assault rifles, Heckler & Koch G36C assault rifles,

Remington 700 The Remington Model 700 is a series of bolt-action centerfire rifles manufactured by Remington Arms since 1962. It is a development of the Remington 721 and 722 series of rifles, which were introduced in 1948. The M24 and M40 military sniper ...

and

Armalite AR-10 The ArmaLite AR-10 is a 7.62×51mm NATO battle rifle designed by Eugene Stoner in the late 1950s and manufactured by ArmaLite (then a division of the Fairchild Aircraft Corporation). When first introduced in 1956, the AR-10 used an innovative com ...

sniper rifles,

Knight's Armament Company SR-25 The SR-25 (Stoner Rifle-25) is a designated marksman rifle and semi-automatic sniper rifle designed by Eugene Stoner and manufactured by Knight's Armament Company. The SR-25 uses a rotating bolt and a direct impingement gas system. It is loose ...

Marksman Rifles, M14 Battle Rifles, Ithaca 37 and

Remington 870 The Remington Model 870 is a pump-action shotgun manufactured by Remington Arms Company, LLC. It is widely used by the public for shooting sports, hunting and self-defense, as well as by law enforcement and military organizations worldwide. ...

shotguns, and Heckler & Koch HK416 rifles.

Allegations of torture and deaths in custody

The unit has been accused of involvement of torture. In August 2010,

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...

said in an urgent appeal that Indonesia had arrested Moluccan activists, and they had anxiety that the activists would be tortured by Detachment 88. In September 2010, the death of Malukan political prisoner Yusuf Sipakoly allegedly caused by the gross human rights abuses by Detachment 88.Political prisoner dies as 'truth walks slowly' Tom Allard, Jakarta 15 September 2010 In March 2016, the Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights stated that at least 121 terror suspects had died in custody since 2007 While acknowledging that Australia did train Detachment 88, Foreign affairs minister in 2012, Bob Carr, said he wasn't sure if the allegations were true, but would follow up.Hayden Cooper and Lisa Main http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-28/papuans-claim-australian-link-to-death-squad/4228710 "Papuans Claim Australian Link to Death Squad" Updated 29 Aug 2012, 10:40am

References

External links

Unofficial Site
{{commons category, Detachment 88 Specialist law enforcement agencies of Indonesia Non-military counterterrorist organizations