‘Lone wolf’ or JI?: Jemaah Islamiyah confusion after Malaysia attack

The hardline group launched wave of devastating attacks in Indonesia in the 2000s before regional governments cracked down. Five members of his family were arrested, including the suspect’s 62-year-old father, who police said was a “known JI member”. Speaking from prison in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, where he is serving a life sentence for his role in JI’s 2002 Bali bombing, which killed more than 200 people, Ali Imron told Al Jazeera that JI’s profile in Malaysia did not seem to fit the police station attack. “If the son followed his father, there is no way he would have committed this act, so there is a strong possibility that he was inspired by ISIS,” Imron said, suggesting the Malaysian authorities had “jumped to that conclusion.” Umar Patek, who was released from prison in 2022 after serving 11 years of a 20-year sentence for mixing some of the chemicals used in the Bali Bombing, told Al Jazeera that he “did not believe” that the attacker was a member of JI and agreed that the attack appeared to have the hallmarks of another group. “While Malaysian militants have been key figures in JI and Philippine-based groups, there are few indications of sophisticated plots targeting Malaysia specifically in recent years,” she said.