Police Not Surprised by Discovery of Indonesian Passports in Abu Sayyaf Base
Jakarta. The National Police have confirmed that the Philippine military found several Indonesian passports during raids in areas controlled by the Abu Sayyaf extremist group in the south of the country.
"We have explained that the discovery of these passports does not surprise us. Among several terror suspects, Indonesian [extremists] have received training in the southern Philippines," National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Martinus Sitompul said in Jakarta on Wednesday (26/04).
He said these extremists are affiliated with the Abu Sayyaf and they have purchased weapons from the group. They are also able to easily travel between Indonesia and the Philippines.
"It is an unguarded territory. They have entered that region of the Philippines, where they were trained by Abu Sayyaf militants," Martinus said.
He did not however, reveal the names of the Indonesians who received training from Abu Sayyaf.
"In this case, as members of the Asean Police [Aseanapol], Asean countries' police forces have the ability to cooperate, exchange information and conduct capacity building. This is part of the information exchange," Martinus said.
Terror suspects previously detained by the National Police have confirmed that they were hosted and trained by the Abu Sayyaf group.
Police investigators are currently waiting for detailed information on the passports from their Philippine counterparts.
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