Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid was formed by
Abu Bakar Baasyir on 27 July 2008 in
Solo, Java, Indonesia and has bases across
Indonesia including in
Aceh and
Central Sulawesi. On March 18, 2012, at least one of five armed men killed by Indonesian counter-terrorist forces in Bali was said to be a member of JAT. The men were killed while awaiting the arrival of prostitutes at a local hotel. In 2012, the U.S. Department of State and the United Nations placed sanctions on the organization and named it as a terrorist group. In 2012, the group was thought to have approximately 1,500–2,000 members.
Abu Bakar Baasyir's son,
Abdul Rohim Ba'asyir was said to be JAT's PR Chairman and had worked for
al-Qaeda in Afghanistan in 2002. Many members of the group, including top leaders, and Baasyir's sons reportedly disagreed with this decision over ideological reasons and left to form a new group called
Jamaah Ansharusy Syariah, led by Mochammad Achwan. After 2014, the group was nearly defunct. From estimated 2,000 - 3,000 JAT members in 2014, only 5% that still pledged their allegiance to JAT's Abu Bakar Baasyir Faction. The organization eventually collapsed on 25 Ramadan 1435
H (23 July 2014), but its members and sympathizers still existed until the present day. ==References==