Indonesian army beefs up territorial defences

This article is more than 12 months old

Jun 02, 2017 06:00 am

JAKARTA: Indonesia's army said it has taken various measures to anticipate the infiltration and expansion of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) network into Indonesia amid the ongoing militant insurgency in the southern Philippines.

"We always keep a guard against any activities that enable the presence of terrorists in the country," army spokesman Colonel Alfret Denny Tuejeh was quoted as saying by kompas.com on Wednesday.

He added that the army had also anticipated the potential expansion of ISIS attacks in Indonesia following its recent strike against Marawi in the Philippines.

Col Alfret said Indonesian authorities had beefed up territorial defences in Ambon, Maluku and North Sulawesi as soon as media outlets started reporting that ISIS fighters had attempted to occupy Marawi city.

He refused to give details of the measures taken by the army.- JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK 