Police Finds ISIS-Linked Group Involved in Riots

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Head of Public Relations Division of the Indonesian National Police (Polri) Insp. Gen. Mohammad Iqbal, said that there are two groups strongly believed to be the behind the riots in Jakarta on May 22, 2019.

"The first group is the GARIS that is affiliated to ISIS," said Iqbal on Thursday, May 23, 2019, at the Coordinating Ministry of Politics, Law, and Security Affairs office.

According to Iqbal, the discovery was made is after the police managed to gather information from two suspects who are currently detained at the Metro Jaya Police headquarters.

The GARIS group once declared its support for ISIS and had also sent their members to fight alongside the now-defunct terrorist organization in Syria.

Based on their information, this group intended to treat the May 21  and May 22 protests as their jihad. "We uncovered very strong evidence of that," said Iqbal.

The second group, which is not affiliated to GARIS, infiltrated the May 22 rally and was armed with two firearms says police. This group also intended to entice a riot by bringing protesters into conflict with police and drive protesters to become martyrs.

"We are constantly investigating this. We will continue it according to the strategy," said Iqbal.

So far, police have named 300 people as suspects of the May 22 riots in Jakarta who were arrested in three separate locations; in front of the Elections Supervisory Board (Bawaslu), Petamburan where a more violent riot took place, and Gambir in Central Jakarta.

ANDITA RAHMA