Batam no stranger to militant activity

2000: Between August and October, Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) members Imam Samudra and Syahid Jabir made several long-distance ferry trips from Jakarta to Batam to familiarise themselves with the island. On Dec 24, two churches in Batam were among those hit in a string of JI-coordinated bomb attacks across 11 Indonesian cities, which killed at least 16 people and injured more than 100 — most of them Christians attending Mass.

2015: In November, Indonesia’s national police reported that senior civil servant Dwi Djoko Wiwoho — a director at the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board — and his wife have left their hometown in Batam to join IS.

2016: Four Indonesians associated with terrorist convict Aman Abdurrahman were deported from Singapore in February. They were said to have eyed Batam and Bintan as transit points before heading to the Middle East to join the IS.