Komando Jihad
Komando Jihad (English: Jihad Commando) was an Indonesian Islamic extremist group that existed from the 1970s until it was dissolved through the actions of the security services in the mid-1980s.[1] The group's foundation was an offshoot of Darul Islam, an extremist group fighting for an Indonesian Islamic state that began in the 1940s.[1]
Damien Kingsbury has written that the group was set up by Kopassus, the Indonesian Army special forces.[2]
Hijack of Garuda Indonesia Flight 206
On 28 March 1981, five members of Komando Jihad boarded a Garuda Douglas DC-9 on a domestic flight from Palembang to Medan and took it and the 57 passengers aboard to Bangkok, Thailand.[3] They were armed with machine guns and dynamite, and demanded the release of 20 political prisoners, that all "Jew officials and Israeli militarists" be expelled from Indonesia, and that they be given $1.5 million. After four days, Indonesian commandos stormed the plane, killing four out of the five hijackers; the fifth hijacker died from unknown causes while being transported to Jakarta.[3] Apart from injuries to the pilot and a member of the flight crew, all other passengers and crew were unharmed.