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Govt must be alert to region's pro-IS groups, analyst says
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Stay alert -- Personnel with the National Police's Densus 88 counterterrorism squad stand guard during a security operation against terrorists in this file photo. (Persda Network/Bina Harnansa)
I
ndonesian security officials must gain more regional knowledge on extremist groups across borders to curb the movement of Islamic State (IS) group supporting networks rapidly growing throughout Southeast Asia, Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) director Sidney Jones said on Wednesday.
The National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) and the National Police's anti-terror squad Densus 88 must stay abreast of the developments of pro-IS groups in Mindanao, the Philippines, and those who have built connections with Indonesian and Malaysian radicals.
Instead of just probing terror suspects for their crimes committed at home, officials should also identify those who have spent time in Mindanao and interrogate them on their knowledge about contacts there, Jones said.
"BNPT or Densus 88 need someone who understands the different groups in the Philippines and who they are likely to connect with here. They should be worried about the exchange of skills among terrorists in Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia," Jones told The Jakarta Post.
She offered the example of Wahyuddin, aka Iron, a member of Poso-based terror group East Indonesia Mujahiddin (MIT), arrested in 2015. Wahyuddin spent two months in the Ansarul Khilafah Philippines (AKP) camp in Mindanao, before leaving to Poso, Central Sulawesi, carrying guns and ammunition for the MIT.
With the growing ties between pro-IS groups in Mindanao, Indonesians and Malaysians will be more likely to depart to engage in jihad in the Philippines as IS loses ground in Syria and Iraq, Jones said. (rin)
