I

ndonesia 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.

The first KJRI team picked up the group of Indonesians in Marawi before heading to Laguindingan airport for the flight to Davao, while the second team drove to Sultan Naga Dimaporo to evacuate the remaining six people before escorting them to the same airport.

At sunset, the ministry’s director for the protection of Indonesian nationals and entities abroad, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, said the evacuees had arrived in Davao “just in time to break their fast [during the Muslim month of Ramadhan]”.

Iqbal added, however, that all the citizens would still have to wait for their repatriation, pending unresolved “technical aspects.”

While the Foreign Ministry was busy conducting its evacuation efforts, the siege of Marawi had become a cause for concern for Indonesia’s security forces, which reinforced the country’s borders following a report previously received by the National Police from their PNP counterpart about the alleged involvement of a different group of seven Indonesians in Marawi incidents.

Indonesian Military commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo said the Navy had deployed its sea operation assets along the country’s northern border, stretching from North Halmahera and Morotai in North Maluku province, to Sangihe islands outpost and across the Sulawesi Sea.

“The Navy is also coordinating with the local fisherfolk to guard the coastal areas and we’re deploying troops and conducting intelligence ops,” Gatot told reporters on Thursday.

He insisted that Southeast Asia was not yet a hotbed for IS.

Along Indonesia’s northwestern border, the Batam immigration office is tightening its surveillance over the movement of foreigners.

The Foreign Ministry, however, refused to comment on the seven names recently published by the police: Al Ikhwan Yushel, Yayat Hidayat Tarli, Anggara Suprayogi, Yoki Pratama Windyarto, M. Jaelani Firdaus, M. Gufron and M. Ilham Syahputra.

— Haeril Halim contributed to this story.