MOSCOW, January 5 (Sputnik) — The Indonesian police have denied allegations about the potential terror threat in the city of Surabaya made by the US Embassy in Jakarta last week, the Jakarta Post said Monday.
"There's nothing to worry about since the intelligence assessment carried out by the National Police's head of intelligence and security department has so far found that there are no public order disruptions [in Surabaya] related to any terror plot," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Ronny F. Sompie told the newspaper on Sunday.
Police spokesperson said that the additional security measures have already been taken despite the lack of threat indication, according to the newspaper.
"The police expect all parties to be cooperative by contacting and informing [us] about any developments that could lead to public order disruptions, including those initiated by terrorists," Ronny was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
In August, the Indonesian National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) warned about the potential threat posed by the Indonesians fighting for the Islamic State (IS) returning to the country. IS is a radical Sunni group operating in Syria and Iraq.
“.@STcom: #Indonesia's police on alert over apparent #ISIS terror threat to #Borobudur Temple http://t.co/3Zi9vfIYhS pic.twitter.com/D591vbzGdl”
— Alba Ambrós (@aambros) 24 августа 2014
According to the Jakarta-based Institute for International Peace Building, the number of supporters of the IS movement in Indonesia is increasing. The number of Indonesians that joined the IS may have reached 500, the BNPT said.
In December, 12 Indonesians were deported by the Malaysian police when they were reportedly traveling to Syria to join the IS militants. Similar incident took place last week, when the Indonesian police arrested seven people, suspected of having links to the IS.
