Indonesia has successfully evacuated 17 citizens from the Philippine town of Marawi, as Jakarta steps up its efforts on all fronts in the aftermath of the Islamic State-linked siege in neighboring Philippines that has alerted Indonesian security forces to the imminent threat of terrorism.

Philippine forces have been locked in combat with members of a rebel militant group in Marawi, a lakeside town on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, which is currently under martial law following a pronouncement by President Rodrigo Duterte last week.

Amid the conflict, two teams from the Indonesian Consulate General (KJRI) in Davao successfully evacuated on Thursday 17 Indonesian citizens who, according to Jakarta officials, were not involved in the clashes.

Of the number, six Indonesians from Makassar had taken refuge in Sultan Naga Dimaporo municipality after the outbreak of violence, while another group of 10 people from West Java remained in Marawi, the Foreign Ministry said.

The 16 people are part of Muslim group Jamaah Tabligh who went to the Philippines for 40 days for religious outreach.

Another Indonesian residing Marawi was also identified and evacuated.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi laid out the evacuation process, which she said was made possible with the help of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP). Both forces, she added, had deployed personnel along an agreed evacuation route from nearby Iligan city — where the KJRI team had been holed up — to Marantau, passing through Marawi.

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