Will the Tsunami Curb SE Asian Terrorism?

The massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake that caused a tidal wave that has killed 50,000+ this week was centered in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the Indonesian province of Aceh.

Interestingly enough this humanitarian disaster may have a small upside; a lessening of the potential for terrorism in Southeast Asia.

Aceh, the province of Indonesia closest to the epicenter of the quake, is a terrorist sanctuary that is the home to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and has been mentioned as a probable al Qaeda base as members try to reorganize their infrastructure. Other Indonesian terrorist organizations that may have been affected is Jemaah Islamiyah, which seeks to turn Indonesia, Malaysia and the southern Philippines into an Islamic state, and Lasker Jihad, which claims to have disbanded after the 2002 Bali bombing.

The violent Tamil Tigers have the most well-developed capacity for maritime terrorism according to the South Asia Analysis Group, and while it is too early to determine the extent of any damage inflicted upon this terrorist organization, their home country of Sri Lanka was among the hardest hit by the tsunami, particularly ethic Tamil regions on Sri Lanka's eastern coast.

The physical proximity of suspected terrorists to the impact zones of the earthquake and its tsunami suggest that some of these organizations took casualties and lost physical resources as a result, though only time will tell.

Relief Effort Update: The Command Post has the most updated information I am aware of if you want to help those affected by this massive natural disaster.

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