Indonesia arrests 14 people suspected of heading to Syria

Armed Indonesian police commandos arrive in the area outside a damaged Starbucks coffee shop after a series of explosions hit central Jakarta, January 14, 2016. (Source :AFP)

Jakarta (VNA) - Indonesia arrested 14 people, including children, as they allegedly tried to travel to Syria, where hundreds of Indonesian youngsters have joined extremist groups like the Islamic State (IS), Jakarta police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal said on March 14.

The official said the Jakarta police stopped the group on March 13 at the Jakarta international airport as they tried to board a flight to Bangkok, from where they planned to continue on to Syria.

Among them was a family of five with three children from Tangerang, west of Jakarta . Five others were from the Indonesian part of Borneo . Police did not say whether those detained planned to join the IS. 

According to a report from the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) released in February, as of December 2015, more than 200 Indonesians had been deported by Turkey after trying and failing to enter Syria.

In January, the IS claimed a terror attack in Jakarta , killing eight people, including four terrorists. It was the first major attack in the country in seven years.

Indonesian authorities have complained that the country’s anti-terror law has some weaknesses that make it difficult to stop people who intend to go abroad and join terrorist groups. The parliament is considering adopting tougher anti-terrorism measures.-VNA