Experts Divided over Attack Risk as Indonesian ISIS Members Return

TODAY

26 November 2015

At least 100 Indonesians known to have joined the Islamic State (ISIS) militant group in Syria and Iraq have returned home, the chief of the country’s intelligence agency has said, in comments that have heightened security concerns in the region.

Mr Sutiyoso, head of the State Intelligence Agency, or BIN, said his office would “monitor and approach” the returnees. He advised members of the public not to panic and urged them to “be the eyes and ears of BIN” by reporting any suspicious activities.

… “The 100 returnees will definitely pose a serious security threat … This threat is also not confined to Indonesia but also to the rest of ASEAN, especially Malaysia and Singapore,” Mr Jasminder Singh, a senior analyst at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, told TODAY.

He added that the returnees “have not only been trained, armed, ideologically fortified and probably gained combat experience, but also may be well-funded and well-networked”.

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Last updated on 26/11/2015