T

he National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) is planning to dispatch a team to the Middle East to collect information and plan legal measures against Indonesians fighting alongside members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq and Syria.

BNPT head Ansyaad Mbai said on Monday that the team, formed in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry, would also coordinate with governments in the region to plan concerted actions to bring the Indonesian jihadists to justice.

'€œWe are aiming to charge them under the Anti-terrorism Law, considering that many international bodies, including the United Nations, have declared the ISIL a terrorist network. To do that, we need to cooperate with relevant governments to gain solid evidence on their involvement in ISIL training and fighting there,'€ he said in a discussion in Jakarta.

The BNPT estimates that about 100 Indonesians are fighting under the banner of ISIL, also known as ISIS and IS.

'€œThirty-four of them are terrorists who had been arrested in Indonesia. [...] Some entered Syria through the border areas of Turkey, where some individuals later took them to paramilitary training. The remainder went through Qatar,'€ he said.

Ansyaad also mentioned a diplomatic report that stated an Indonesian was detained in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago for attempting to pass the Saudi-Syria border on foot.

The government is stepping up efforts against ISIL as more Indonesian extremists have pledged their support and declared their intention to fight alongside the rebel group. Among the supporters are convicted terrorist and radical cleric Abu Bakar Ba'€™asyir and fugitive terrorist Santoso.

'€œMany ISIL supporters hail from areas known as terrorist hotbeds '€” Ciputat [Tangerang], Bekasi [West Java] and Poso [Central Sulawesi],'€ Ansyaad said.

Also at the event, Deputy Foreign Minister Dino Patti Djalal said the ministry would forge closer cooperation with embassies of countries affected by ISIL.

'€œIn early September, the ministry will hold a meeting with ambassadors of Middle East countries and others that actively oppose ISIL. We will share information on the issue and coordinate a joint effort,'€ he said.

Dino also voiced the government'€™s intention to participate in an upcoming international conference on ISIL initiated by France.

'€œWe welcome the conference. For now, we keep continuing our [international] cooperation on information-sharing on Indonesian ISIL fighters and intelligence on ISIL'€™s strength and movements,'€ the deputy minister said.

He added that the government was considering the possibility of revoking ISIL fighters'€™ citizenship.

In an attempt to prevent more Indonesians from entering ISIL battlegrounds, Dino said his ministry was cooperating with the embassies of relevant Middle East countries to guard against the processing of visas of suspicious individuals.

He added that the ministry also anticipated a possibility of a surge in boat people from Syria and Iraq passing through Indonesia as the ISIL conflict worsened.