Indonesia Tells World Of Threat Of ISIS Lone Wolves

Nusa Dua (Antara Bali) - The Indonesian government on Wednesday warned countries of the damage that could be caused by individual terrorists returning home after fighting alongside ISIS in the Middle East.

Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Law, Security and Political Affairs Wiranto said individual terrorists, known as "lone wolves" provided a new challenge in the fight against terrorism in various countries.

Wiranto told delegates at an International Meeting on Counter Terrorism here on Wednesday that individual terrorists constitute a new phenomenon.

"Returning ISIS fighters to their respective countries create a new phenomenon known as love wolves. This phenomenon is a new challenge that needs serious addressing by us," he said when opening the meeting attended by delegates from 20 countries including the United States, France, China, Russia and Turkey as well as representatives from ASEAN, the United Nations and Interpol.

Some of the lone wolves were veterans who had fought in Syria and Iraq and others were sympathizers recruited and indoctrinated by ISIS to form small clandestine groups in their respective countries.

Wiranto pointed to the recent terror attack in France when a terrorist drove a truck into a crowd of people in Niece, leaving many people dead.

The attacker did not use explosives or firearms as generally used by terrorists when launching an attack, he said.

The meeting called "International Meeting on Counter-Terrorism: Countering Cross-Border Movement of Terrorism"is expected to end with a joint statement on international cooperation to overcome terrorism.

The meeting was open to coincide with the start of four-day "Counter-Terrorism Financing Summit", held by the Financial Service Transactions and Reporting Center (PPATK) of Indonesia and its Australian counterpart (AUSTRAC) in the same location.

The two related meetings are aimed at strengthening international cooperation networks to cope with the threat of cross border terrorism .

The participating countries will exchange views and agree to share intelligence information on terrorism including on information on funds used by terrorists and weapon smuggling. (WDY)