Indonesia reinforces patrol to prevent ISIS infiltration from Philippines

Coordinating Minister for Security, Law and Political Affairs Wiranto said the government has intensified sea and over land patrols to prevent infiltration of ISIS militants from the Philippines to Indonesia. 

We have strengthened patrols in the sea and over land. I have talked to the military chief and police chief to prevent possible attempts by ISIS to infiltrate its militants to Indonesia," the retired army general said here on Monday. 

He expressed support for the Philippines fighting Maute armed rebels which are affiliated to the Iraqi Syria Islamic States that calls for Islamic takeover of power especially in predominantly Muslim countries . 

The Philippine government is seeking to drive the Maute militants out of the Marawi city, a mainly Muslim city of 200,000 where fighters had torched and seized a school, a jail and a cathedral, and took more than a dozen hostages.

The Maute militants have seized the city on Mindanao island of southern Philippines over the past several days.

Wiranto said Indonesia would support the Philippines government to launch systematic attacks to foil attempt to establish ISIS base in southern Philippines. 

He said it is very likely that a number of militants from Indonesia had joined the Philippine radicals, adding currently ISIS adopts the concept of divergence inviting sympathizers from various countries to be trained militarily.

It was also known that in the meantime ISIS has sent activists to all over the world including southeast Asia to recruit fighters from among sympathizers, he said .

"There are already 500 Indonesians leaving for Syria to join ISIS. It is possible there are ISIS agents in the Philippines," he said. 

He said the National Agency Controlling Terrorism (BNPT) has been ordered to find data about the number of Indonesians joining the armed rebels in the neighboring country. 

"But what is more important is to prevent them from growing and expand their operations to Indonesia," he said.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has imposed martial law on Mindanao, that country's second-largest island and home to around 22 million people, to stop the spread of radical Islam. 

Source: ANTARA