Indonesia releases eight IS suspects deported from Singapore

Five of the eight deported men (wearing headgear and white robes) being questioned by the Indonesian authorities in the Riau Islands on Jan 10, 2017.

JAKARTA - Eight Indonesians held for questioning over their suspected links to the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria have been released after police established that they were not associated with the terrorist group in the Middle East.

The eight men were first stopped by immigration officers at Singapore's Woodlands Checkpoint on Tuesday, after a photo of a "shoe bomb" was found in the smartphone of the group's leader, a 37-year-old whom police identified by the initials REH.