200 Indonesians join ISIS following Jakarta bombing last month
Police Chief General Badrotin Haiti confirmed that at least 200 Indonesians have joined ISIS. The report came from intelligence services of Indonesia.
The agency follows suspects and their attempts to launch attacks in the country. Based on these activities it was concluded that the extremists had already been operating in the Muslim-majority nation for a while.
The government also blamed Bahrum Naim for the attacks on Jan. 14 in Jakarta. Bahrum Naim is a terrorist who wanted to prevail over other terrorists groups located in South-East Asia.
Security forces have launched an operation to hunt down Bahrum Naim and Indonesia's Most Wanted, Santoso, a.k.a Abu Warda. Reports say that Abu Wardah is hiding somewhere within Central Sulawesi in Poso.
Navy Special Forces and Indonesia's prime army have joined forces with police officers to capture Santoso. However, his suspected location is considered one of the hardest areas to reach in the country since it is surrounded by mountains and thick tropical forestry. To make the matters worse, General Badrotin Haiti said that much of the local population is sympathetic to the Islamic group, making it more difficult for the government to conduct operations.
Indonesian officials estimate that the Islamic group has around a thousand active supporters. Compared to the country's total population which is 250 million and 87% Muslim, the number of the IS group is relatively small. So far 600 Indonesians have reportedly travelled to Syria and fifty are said to have died in the war.