Counterterrorism Special Detachment 88
( Indonesian:
Detasemen Khusus Delapan Delapan (88) Antiteror ),
or Densus Delapan Delapan (88),
is an Indonesian National Police counter-terrorism unit
formed in the wake of the Bali bombings in June 2003,
and building to full operational status two years later.
Detachment 88 has established itself
as one of the world’s best counter-terrorism units.
Going back to 2010,
a Reuters analysis of data shows the elite unit,
Special Detachment 88 has prevented at last 54 plots or attacks in Indonesia,
the world’s fourth largest.
“Detachment 88 has become better than pretty well
any other counter-terrorism group in the world,”
said Greg Barton,
a terrorism export and research professor in Global Islamic Politics
at Alfred Deakin Institute in Melbourne.
“They have had an incredible workload and they have become
remarkably good at what they do.”
In the last six years,
there has been only one major attack in Indonesia
that caused civilian deaths,
when assailants hit a Jakarta mall and police post with gunfire and bombs,
resulting in the deaths of three Indonesians and a dual Algerian-Canadian national.
All four attackers were also killed in the January 2016 attack.
Between 2002 to 2009,
there were nine major attacks by militants,
leaving 295 dead and hundreds of others wounded.
Since its formation in 2002,
the unit has put a premium on clandestine intelligence gathering.
Now much of that intelligence work is done online,
by infiltrating and monitoring chat rooms,
social media and messaging apps popular with militants.
Detachment 88’s intelligence work has led to over 1,200 arrests
since it was formed in 2003,
with most resulting in successful prosecutions.
Since 2010,
the group is credited with disrupting more than 80 terrorist plots.
The public is by now familiar with Detachment 88’s
black-clad tactical response teams,
equipped with standard-issue,
American-supplied counter-terrorism weapons,
such as M4A1 carbines,
AR-10 rifles,
MP5 submachine guns,
Glock 17 pistols and Remington shotguns.
The force includes specially-trained snipers and breach squad teams.
Using sophisticated psychological techniques
and backed by experts with deep religious knowledge,
Detachment 88 has succeeded in winning over many members of terrorist networks.
This is often made possible with the assistance
of militants’ parents and other family members.
This nuanced approach is a distinctive strength of Detachment 88,
and in tandem with other elements of intelligence gathering,
has enabled it to disrupt developing terrorist plots with remarkable consistency.
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.
“We built our organization to learn from the enemy,”
said a senior counter-terrorism officer who provided some insight
into the working of the unit but spoke on condition of anonymity.
The unit is headed by a task force,
a core of 30 or so senior members,
said the Indonesian law enforcement source.
“Many of them possess doctorates and have specialties like psychology and social behavior,”
the source added.
“They are not like regular police.”
The black clad,
heavily armed members of Detachment 88 sometimes seen during raids
on suspected militant hideouts make up a small proportion of the unit,
officials say.
Far more personnel are dedicated to gathering intelligence
in the field and monitoring communications and online activity.
There is also a large team of investigators analyzing that intelligence
and forensically examining explosives and other evidence.
The success of Detachment 88 has been the result of excellent intelligence work,
but no agency has perfect intelligence.
And just like every counter-terrorism team in the age of ISIS,
Detachment 88 is also dealing with a ten-fold increase in “persons of concern”,
making its work even more challenging.