Indonesia to question 18 citizens escaping from IS in Syria

Indonesian counter-terrorism agency BNPT and police will interrogate 18

citizens who escaped from the Islamic State (IS) in Syria, a national police

spokesman said here Monday.

The 18 people, including teenagers, women and infants, arrived in Jakarta

over the weekend and they were handed over to the agency and the anti-terror

squad of the national police, spokesman Brigadier General Rikwanto said.

"The people were brought directly to Sentul of Bogor town, they were handed

to the BNPT," Rikwanto said in a statement.

The people escaped from the IS terrorist group in the Syrian city of Raqqa

after the terrorist group placed them in a detention center as they rejected to

fight for the IS group, according to the Indonesian foreign ministry.

Previously it was reported that the number of the escaping persons was 17,

but the spokesman revised it to 18.

The 18 people left Indonesia in August 2015 and stayed in an IS camp in the

Syrian city of Raqqa about 40 days, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, director for the

protection of Indonesian national and entities abroad said.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)