Chief of the Indonesian National Police General Tito Karnavian stated that throughout 2016, police have handled 170 cases of terrorism, an increase from 82 cases in the previous year.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia is combating terrorism consistently and simultaneously, both domestically and internationally, to create security and peace.

The Indonesian government constantly hunts for terrorists by collecting information and data and cross-checking them to track the terrorist networks cells, in order to stop their plans to threaten the security of the society.

As an enemy of the international society, terrorism can threaten state stability, lead to violence and loss of life, and haunt people who wish for peace.

The dangerous and widespread terror acts have attracted the attention of all international communities and countries and prompted them to jointly combat it.

Indonesian government had strengthened its counter-terrorism measures to curb terror acts throughout 2016.

According to data from the National Agency for Combating Terrorism, Indonesian National Police have arrested as many as 996 people from 2000 to 2015 for terror acts.

Chief of the Indonesian National Police General Tito Karnavian stated that throughout 2016, police have handled 170 cases of terrorism, an increase from 82 cases in the previous year.

"This increase was due to the unstable political dynamics in Syria and Iraq caused by ISIS attacks, which led to an increase in terrorism cases in Indonesia," Karnavian said in Jakarta on Wednesday (Dec 28, 2016).

Moreover, three Indonesian nationals were arrested in Syria on Dec 5, 2016, for seeking to join ISIS in the conflict-affected country.

Meanwhile, in 2016, about 600 Indonesian nationals left for Syria to join ISIS.

The Indonesian security forces continue to eradicate terrorism networks in the society environment.

As a result, Indonesian Police have arrested many suspected terrorists. For example, Detachment 88 Antiterror of Police Headquarters has arrested seven suspected terrorists in four different areas, namely in North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Batam, and South Tangerang on Wednesday (Dec 21, 2016). Of the seven men, three died after clashes with the officers.

The terrorist networks remain a threat that must be crushed up.

Cyber Approach

To counter terrorism, police use cyber approach as an effort to tackle terrorism engaged in cyberspace.

The fight against terrorism through cyber approach is conducted through some ways, for example conducting cyber patrols and attacks on communication links and networks of terrorism in cyberspace.

"We also need to fight terrorism with cyber patrols, cyber-attacks, and cyber surveillance against terrorist networks," Karnavian stated.

The cyber patrols have been carried out by the Indonesian cyber security team. The action aims to monitor the activities or movements of terrorist networks through the virtual world. The team works every day to observe the websites related to the terrorist networks.

The team has also been tracking communication sites of the terrorists in cyberspace.

After a successful entry into the communication network of the terrorists, the police then follow and involve themselves in the communication to determine their activities.

After infiltrating into the terrorists group at a site, the police disguise themselves to be a part of the terrorist groups and join the conversation with them by using a variety of accounts.

In addition, the Indonesian government is also aware of the terrorist recruitment through social media.

The minister said the terrorists also learn the ways of making a bomb through cyberspace. They create a cyber-operation, track their targets, and fund terrorism in the network.

"Most of the existence of terrorists is easily detected, but still many of them try to avoid intelligence detection," he said.

Transnational

As the terrorist networks have entered various countries around the world, the efforts to combat terrorism also require cooperation between institutions and countries.

A country needs to work with other countries to build the strength to fight terrorism both domestically and abroad.

In addition to destroying the terrorist networks, Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto said that combating terrorism can be done by cutting their funding lines.

"We continue to urge all countries tackling terrorism by working together closely and understanding each others interests," he said.

The Indonesian government continued to work together with many governments, such as China and Iran, to eliminate terrorism in the world.

Furthermore, Wiranto and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop have discussed strengthening of counter-terrorism and national security.

Bishop said the two countries would like to continue improving bilateral cooperation in combating terrorism and tackling extremism.

"Both countries share information and intelligence to protect each of their citizens from terrorism," she noted.

Moreover, Wiranto and Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Mikhail Galuzin have also agreed to strengthen cooperation for counter-terrorism in cyberspace.

"There has been cooperation on security of information between the two countries. Then, there is also a forum for consultation on security and defense between Indonesia and Russia. We will follow up the cooperation with more concrete steps," he asserted.

In October 2016, Wiranto and Irans Ambassador to Indonesia Valiollah Mohammadi met to discuss counter-terrorism efforts.

"Overall, the two sides exchange opinions on how to fight terrorism and extremist groups," Mohammadi said.

He affirmed that the handling of terrorism, which poses a global threat ,should be conducted jointly between countries.

"We strongly believe that the handling of terrorism needs cooperation and assistance from various states," he added.(*)

Reporter: Martha Herlinawati Simanjuntak
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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