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View all search resultsIndonesia braces for IS rise in southern Philippines
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Join forces: President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte attend a press conference at the State Palace in Jakarta on Sept. 9. They signed a memorandum of understanding on maritime security in Sulu waters. (Antara/Widodo S. Jusuf)
T
he Indonesian Military (TNI) has warned about the possibility of the Islamic State (IS) radical movement moving its base from the Middle East to Southeast Asia, posing a greater threat to Indonesian security.
TNI Commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo said Tuesday that the terrorist group had been building its Southeast Asian base in the southern part of the Philippines, which immediately borders Indonesia’s Kalimantan and Sulawesi.
“I have raised concerns over this issue for six months. The IS can enter Indonesia from there [the southern part of the Philippines],” he said at a seminar on terrorism in Central Jakarta.
The increasing number of abductions carried out by terrorist groups on seamen passing the water in the area has indicated that extremists have been collecting money to build a new center of operations, Gatot said.
The IS, whose movement Gatot said was purely economic rather than ideologically driven, had begun to develop its Southeast Asian base because the lucrative energy source in the Middle East started to vanish.
“They are moving to [the source of] other natural resources, namely sea and food, on the equator. That is why the southern Philippines has been chosen,” he said.
The Sulu Sea, located in the southwestern area of the Philippines, has long been a source of trouble, as the Abu Sayyaf militant group has repeatedly kidnapped sailors there, including those from Indonesia, in exchange for ransom. Abu Sayyaf has stated allegiance to the IS. (hwa)
