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217 Indonesians linked to terrorism by host countries
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Densus 88 counterterrorism squad members stand guard outside the residence of an alleged Islamic State movement supporter in South Tangerang, Banten, on Dec. 27, 2015. The police’s special force also arrested another four suspects in South Jakarta, Bekasi and Cibubur, West Java. (JP/DON)
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total of 217 Indonesians have been detained or deported, mostly in or from Turkey, as they were linked to terrorist groups by their host countries, Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry says.
"They are accused of being involved in activities as foreign terrorist fighters," Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said on Tuesday as quoted by tempo.co.
The ministry says 200 Indonesians were found in Turkey, five in South Korea (with three people later released), three in Malaysia, two in Saudi Arabia, two in Japan (both were released) and one in Sudan, who was later released.
Four other Indonesian citizens were recently deported from Singapore. Nasir said the four were suspected to be affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) group. The Indonesian authorities are currently handling the suspects who have returned now to Jakarta, he added.
The four suspects have been identified as Muhammad Mufid Murtadho, Untung Sugema Mardjuki, Mukhlis Koifur Rofiq and Risno. National Police chief Badrodin Haiti said they were affiliated with radical ideologist Aman Abdurrahman.
Aman is allegedly believed to have orchestrated the terrorist attack that took place in central Jakarta on Jan. 14 from his prison cell on Nusakambangan Island. However, there has not been any confirmation whether the four suspects were involved in the Jakarta attack.
The National Police's Densus 88 counterterrorism squad said they have investigated the four suspects who were found to have been en route to Syria.
National Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Agus Rianto confirmed that the police were still investigating in an attempt to uncover their links to the IS militant group.
According to Agus, the suspects flew from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to Singapore. Once they arrived in Singapore, they were investigated by local authorities. The suspects admitted to be in transit to Syria and were on their way to join the IS militia.
Singapore police reported the information to the Indonesian National Police. Densus 88 is currently still investigating their links with IS but has not found any proof as yet. (liz/bbn)
