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View all search resultsPlan to expand military role in counterterrorism draws flak
A draft Presidential Regulation (Perpres) lays out the military’s responsibilities in combating terrorism, including three roles for the Indonesian Military (TNI), which activists argue should be mainly carried out by civilian institutions such as the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT).
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Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel attend a Christmas security briefing at the National Monument (Monas) complex in Jakarta on Dec. 24, 2025. (Antara/Sulthony Hasanuddin)
A
renewed plan to include the Indonesian Military (TNI) in the country’s fight against terrorism has sparked concerns among civil society groups, who warn it could further undermine hard-won democratic reforms and threaten civil liberties under the guise of security operations.
The plan is laid out in a draft presidential regulation (Perpres) that outlines the military’s responsibilities in combating terrorism. It assigns three roles to the armed forces for the counterterrorism campaign, which is among the TNI’s operations other than war: prevention, enforcement and recovery.
According to a seven-page draft of the Perpres obtained by The Jakarta Post, prevention measures include intelligence, as well as territorial and other informational operations aimed at countering potential threats. These measures will be carried out by “special operations units or other temporary TNI units assigned for such a specific purpose”.
Meanwhile, enforcement is defined as the use of force to be deployed by “the TNI commander under the president’s orders” against terrorist acts, including ones targeting the president or vice president, as well as their families, former leaders, visiting heads of state and “strategic national infrastructure”.
National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) Eddy Hartono, also a retired three-star police general, claimed he had not seen the draft. But he insisted that the military’s role in counterterrorism aligns with the 2018 Terrorism Law, which designates anti-terrorist operations as a shared responsibility among relevant institutions, including the TNI, as reported by state news agency Antara.
The law classifies the TNI’s role in counterterrorism as part of a military operation other than war, and requires the government to issue a Perpres if it intends to allow the military to partake in counterterrorism efforts.
Read also: TNI expansion plan raises fear of overreach
