In the first half of February 2020 the ‘Indonesian Islamic State (IS) returnees’ were a hot topic in local Indonesian media. Based on international reports, 689 Indonesian citizens have travelled to Syria (or Iraq) in support of the battle of Islamic terrorist group IS (albeit most experts assume that the real number is much higher). The problem now is that many among these 689 Indonesians – including children and women – have become stranded abroad, mostly in Syria and Turkey.

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On Friday (06/03) Indonesia Investments released the February 2020 edition of its monthly update. In this second edition of 2020 we zoom in on the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on the Indonesian economy.

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Early in the morning of Friday (15/01), Indonesia's counter terrorism squad (known as Densus 88) arrested three people in connection with the terrorist attacks that occurred in Central Jakarta on Thursday. The attacks yesterday led to seven casualties (two civilians and five terrorists) as well as more than 20 injured people. Today's arrests were made in Depok, located not far from Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta.

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Several people, five terrorists and two civilians, have been killed in a series of multiple explosions and gunfire in the center of Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta. Around 10:50 am local Jakarta time the first explosion occurred near the Sarinah department store on Jalan M.H. Thamrin in Central Jakarta. Previously Indonesian authorities had already received a threat from Islamic State that the country would be in the spotlight of this terrorist organization. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

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Sutiyoso, Director of Indonesia's State Intelligence Agency (BIN), said authorities will closely monitor those Indonesians that return home after having joined the militant Islamic State in Syria. It is estimated that more than 100 Indonesians have traveled back to the Archipelago from Syria after having fought alongside the militant organization. Meanwhile, Indonesian policy is investigating a video that has been circulating on social media. This video displays a local terrorist group threatening to attack Indonesia's State Palace and Jakarta Policy headquarters.

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In the past few days, American and Australian authorities announced to detect a high degree of potential terrorist attacks in Indonesia, reportedly related to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) movement. ISIS is an outlawed movement in Indonesia but does have sympathizers in the world’s largest archipelago containing the world’s largest Muslim population (about 210 million Muslims). Last Saturday (03/01), the US embassy issued a security warning for US-associated hotels and banks in the city of Surabaya (East Java).

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In an update on Thursday (25/02) Australian authorities advised the public to exercise a high degree of caution in Indonesia as recent indications suggest that Islamic militants may be in an advanced stage of preparing violent attacks in Indonesia. Australia warns about possible terrorist attacks throughout Indonesia (including Bali and Jakarta) and it specifically discourages journeys to Central Sulawesi, Papua and West Papua. On Thursday 14 January 2016 Islamic militants engaged in attacks in Central Jakarta, resulting in eight casualties (including the four terrorists).

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