Indonesia reports 38 nationals joined militant group attacking Marawi

By APD writer Maverick

JAKARTA, June 2 (APD) – An Indonesian senior police officer said on Friday that 38 nationals were identified of involved in activities of militant group attacking the Philippines city of Marawi, of which part of them have died during clashes with the military in the city.

Indonesian Police Headquarters Spokesman Setyo Wasisto said that four of them have been presumed dead during battle between the group and the military in the Muslim-predominantly city in the Philippines’ southernmost Mindanao Island.

“They comprised of 37 men and 1 woman. Six of them have been repatriated to Indonesia,” Setyo said in his office here, adding that the remaining ones were still in the conflicting area.

He said police have identified those nationals taking part in terror activities in Marawi, adding that those repatriated back to Indonesia may face legal prosecution should police find out their involvements in terror attacks in the country.

He added that police would deploy 200 more police to add the previous 119 ones joining the military to beef up the security in Indonesia’s outer islands of Miangas, Marore and Nangusa which are close to Southern Philippines.

The increasing security personnel deployment in Indonesia’s border with the Philippines was intended to anticipate possible infiltration of militants from the conflict areas into Indonesian territory.

Previously on Thursday, Head of Citizen Protection Department at Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry, Lalu Iqbal, said the ministry had evacuated non-combatant nationals from areas affected by the armed-clash conflicts in Mindanao to Indonesia’s diplomatic office in Davao city, Mindanao.

Those nationals were trapped in the conflict-hit areas when they travelled there for religious-purpose visits, he said.

“They comprised of 11 ones trapped in Marantao, some 20 kilometers from Marawi and 6 others from Sultan Naga Dimaporo,” Iqbal added.

Their evacuation process was conducted after verification process on whether or not they involved in Philippines militant group activities.

Their repatriation process to Indonesia would wait for favoring condition to assure their safety, he added.

In the latest development, the ministry’s Spokesperson Arrmanatha Nasir said on Friday that no Indonesian national was affected by the fresh attack in the Manila casino has killed 37 ones earlier in the day.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)