Islamic radicals on Sulawesi have split from the Islamic militant organization Jemaah Islamiyah to form an even more hard line group called Mujahidin Kompak. Jemaah Islamiyah has been, in effect, the local branch of  al Qaeda since the 1990s. Central Sulawesi, a province where Christians comprise about half of the  population, has, for several years, attracted  Islamic militants intent on converting, killing or driving out non-Moslems. This has also attracted a large police and army presence, in an attempt to keep the peace. However, the police and army are largely Moslem and the Islamic radicals have managed to get some of the police and soldiers to work for them.

Jemaah Islamiyah is a religious education group that has turned to violence to impose Islamic customs on Moslems and non-Moslems. Mujahidin Kompak is more interested in the violence and attracts young Moslem men who want to get right down to fighting infidels (non-Moslems).