Indonesia warns of any possible attack against its Shia community

intelligence on plans to target the country’s Shia Muslim community

 

Indonesia’s top security officials staged a meeting after intelligence on plans to target the country’s Shia Muslim community proved credible enough to require immediate addressing.

The Muslim minority group has been subject to widespread hate campaigns and intimidation from hard-line Sunni groups, including those with some links to global terrorism network so-called Islamic State, which has launched a series of violent attacks against Shias in Iraq and Syria.

Officials said police would also tightly monitor Sunni hard-liners, which had been airing hate speeches and threats against the Shia community.

Last month, a movement calling itself the National Anti-Shia Alliance, or Annas, was inaugurated in Bogor, recently ranked as the most religiously intolerant city in Indonesia.