The Series Of Events At The Makassar Cathedral And The National Police Headquarters, The Role Of Women In Terrorism Should Not Be Underestimated

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Two recent terror incidents, at the cathedral church in Makassar and the National Police Headquarters, South Jakarta, have opened the veil that the role of women in current acts of terrorism cannot be ruled out.

On Wednesday, March 31st, a woman with a gun broke into the Police Headquarters. Four days earlier, a husband and wife married suicide bombers, attacking the Makassar Cathedral Church. Although not new, the involvement of women in acts of terrorism has again been highlighted.

ZA, a 25-year-old woman, entered the Police Headquarters compound by herself through the back door. On foot, he docked at the post at the main gate. ZA had asked about the whereabouts of the post office. He argued that he wanted to deliver letters. ZA left the post. For a moment, before returning again and attacking the police at the post. In response, the police shot ZA dead.

From this case, former terrorism convict Haris Amir Falah said there was a shift in the movement of the terror group.

One of them is that the group is now more targeting women to be prepared as perpetrators. This is because women are more militant in carrying out their actions than men.

"Now the trend is women. Even from my findings in the field, women are more militant than men," said Haris in a virtual discussion on Saturday, April 3.

This trend is very different from the movement of terrorist groups in the previous year. In 2010, they never involved women and children in attacks.

This condition is reversed at this time. According to Haris, now many women are inviting their husbands to join in terrorist acts.

"Many husbands come, not because their husbands are inviting their wives but their wives are inviting their husbands," he said.

Continuing, Deputy VII of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) Wawan Hari Purwanto found that many women were recruited as perpetrators of terrorism. The main reason is the absence of the male terrorist because he died and was arrested by the authorities.

"Yes, this woman became the center after the deaths of many ISIS supporters, especially men. Then, because of the large absence of male power, women were recruited for that," said Wawan.

Furthermore, he said, women were also chosen because they were considered to have emotional feelings and militancy than men. This involvement is also based on imitation that has been carried out by female terrorist groups.

Thus, currently the bombing carried out by women shows an increasing trend. In fact, he said, many women have even invited men or other groups to carry out these actions.

"This includes the case of the pot bomb. The one with a booming explosive power. This is the effect of imitating its movement and the increasing trend. It is even said that women are inviting it today. There is something like that," he explained.