TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The National Police continues to monitor former Indonesian combatants who have returned to Indonesia from Syria. According to National Police spokesperson Insp. Gen Setyo Wasisto, the Indonesian nationals fought in the Syrian civil war have returned home using official documents.

Setyo could not confirm the exact number of former combatants.

“What’s certain is that I couldn’t reveal the number of former combatants that have been monitored by the National Police’s anti-terror squad and intelligence,” Setyo said today.

Setyo revealed that these people would have a difficult time returning home to Indonesia if they did not use official documents. However, he explained that the police is currently unable to take actions against them because they have not violated any laws yet.

Setyo claimed that the National Police has retrieved their personal data but is facing difficulties in preventing the former combatants from conducting radical acts on Indonesian soil.

Setyo referred to the latest terror attack against the North Sumatra Police headquarters, where one of the assailants, Syawaluddin Pakpahan, was a former combatant in the Syrian civil war that was under police surveillance.

Setyo hopes that the anti-terrorism draft bill would be finalized soon to allow police conduct legal preventive actions against possible terror attacks.

DANANG FIRMANTO