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BNPT wants stronger borders on pro-IS concerns
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Terrorism talks: National Counterterrorism Agency chief Suhardi Alius (center) responds to questions during a hearing with House of Representatives Commission III in Senayan, Jakarta, on Sept. 15. (Antara/Puspa Perwitasari)
T
he National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) has highlighted the importance of strengthening defense in areas bordering neighboring countries amid concerns of growing pro-Islamic State (IS) group networks that connect Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Members of the National Police and Indonesian Military (TNI) should be deployed to secure border areas susceptible to terrorism threats, especially considering that extremists in the Philippines had from time to time smuggled arms and ammunition to assist Indonesia-based terrorist groups through the land, BNPT chief Comr. Gen. Suhardi Alius said.
"Information that southern Philippines will become the center [of pro-IS group movement] is already circulating on radical sites. We should therefore improve [border security] since we cannot put an end to the spread of ideology, but we can prepare [to step up defense]," Suhardi told the journalists on Wednesday.
Suhardi went on to say that the government should also strengthen counterterrorism cooperation with neighboring countries such as Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore, especially since foreign terrorist fighters often traveled by land to reach Indonesia.
He took the example of Chinese Uighurs, who previously went to Poso, Central Sulawesi, to assist East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) in orchestrating terror attacks, saying that the extremists entered Indonesia's border by traveling through Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines.
An Institute of Policy Analysis of Conflict's (IPAC) report released Tuesday revealed that support for IS radical movement had deepened among extremists in maritime Southeast Asia. Four pro-IS groups in Mindanao had reportedly had links to operatives in Malaysia and Indonesia. (dmr)
