The National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) has opened an investigation to track down parties that might have helped dispatch three Indonesians who reportedly planned to join militants in war-torn Syria before they were apprehended by security personnel in Turkey, an official has said.
he National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) has opened an investigation to track down parties that might have helped dispatch three Indonesians who reportedly planned to join militants in war-torn Syria before they were apprehended by security personnel in Turkey, an official has said.
“We are developing an investigation to find out if parties dispatched and assisted them,” BNPT chief Comr. Gen. Suhardi Alius said in Jakarta on Tuesday. He was speaking after the signing of an agreement between the BNPT and the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) on the establishment of a terrorism risk index.
Suhardi said he suspected a terrorist-linked group may have assisted in the departure of the three Indonesians, identified as Tomi Gunawan, 18, a resident of Pekanbaru in Riau; Jang Johana, 25, from Bandung, West Java; and Irfan, 21, from Jakarta.
“Like in Poso [Central Sulawesi], a foreign entity has provided assistance to a local terrorist group,” Suhardi said.
On Saturday, the National Police’s Densus 88 counterterrorism squad detained the three Indonesians shortly after they arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Banten, Tangerang, following their deportation from Istanbul International Atatürk Airport in Turkey.
They were directly taken to the police’s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) headquarters in Kelapa Dua, Depok, West Java, for interrogation. (fac/ebf)
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