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View all search resultsHigh alert order for troops draws scrutiny
A recent decision by the Indonesian Military (TNI) that puts troops on high alert amid the war in the Middle East has come under scrutiny as lawmakers and civil groups question its legality and necessity.
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Indonesian military (TNI) troops prepare for deployment on Aug. 31, 2025, at the National Monument (Monas) complex amid widespread anti-government protests and rioting over issues such as extra pay for lawmakers, in Jakarta. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
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recent decision by the Indonesian Military (TNI) to put troops on high alert amid the war in the Middle East has come under scrutiny as lawmakers and civil groups question its legality and necessity.
The directive was contained in a telegram sent to all military units by TNI chief’s assistant for operations Lt. Gen. Bobby Rinal Makmun on March 1, a day after the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Tehran that killed its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The telegram places troops on “Siaga 1”, or the highest level of alert, and instructs all units to raise operational readiness and increase patrols around strategic infrastructure, including airports, seaports and other transport hubs. It also orders the National Air Defense Command (Kohanudnas) to carry out 24-hour air surveillance.
Despite its swift issuance after the war in the Middle East broke out, the directive only circulated a week later, around the time that videos showing troops and tactical vehicles assembling for a drill at the National Monument in Jakarta over the weekend went viral.
The quiet mobilization has puzzled observers and lawmakers at the House of Representatives, who questioned the lack of explanations surrounding the national-level security order.
“I was hoping the TNI could convey information in a more coordinated manner so the public obtains a complete explanation and thus does not create multiple interpretations,” TB Hasanuddin of the House Commission I overseeing defense and foreign affairs told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Hasanuddin, a lawmaker of the quasi opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said that while raising and lowering the alert status for active-duty troops does not require House approval, deploying those troops for war or non-war operations must go through the House first, as regulated in the law.
