Indonesia arrests four with suspected ISIL ties as police ramp up patrols

Updated September 16 2014 - 2:08pm, first published 5:54am

Indonesian police have stepped up patrols in public areas where Westerners gather after the arrest over the weekend of four suspected foreign Islamic State-aligned radicals. The men (pictured) were arrested on Saturday with three Indonesian nationals heading towards a hideout in Poso, Central Sulawesi, where wanted terrorist Abu Wardah Santoso has long operated. Indonesian police spokesman Agus Rianto said the men had travelled on Turkish passports, but, when police tried to interview them in Turkish, they did not speak the language. It's believed they are Uighurs, from a Muslim minority group in western China. Mr Agus said security had not yet been stepped up at embassies and international schools, but that police had increased patrols. Former Jemaah Islamiah terrorist and now deradicalisation expert, Nasir Abbas, said that Santoso, who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (also known as ISIL), was ''very important'' for jihadist groups in Indonesia.