Indonesia to question 18 citizens who escaped IS in Syria

At least 18 citizens who escaped the Islamic State militant group in Syria will be questioned by the Indonesian counter-terrorism agency BNPT, police said here on Monday.

The teenagers, women and infants arrived here over the weekend, Xinhua news agency reported.

They were handed over to the agency and the anti-terror squad of the police, police spokesman General Rikwanto said.

"The people were brought directly to Sentul of Bogor town... they were handed to the BNPT," Rikwanto said.

The people escaped from the IS in the Syrian city of Raqqa after the group placed them in a detention centre as they refused to fight for the IS, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Previously it was reported that the number of persons who escaped was 17, but the spokesman revised it to 18.

The people left Indonesia in August 2015 and stayed in an IS camp in the Syrian city of Raqqa for about 40 days, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, director for the protection of Indonesian national and entities abroad, said.

--IANS

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