Indonesians join Syria war

In this Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013 photo, Muslim men watch a slideshow of pictures believed to be from Syria during a prayer calling for jihad to Syria at a mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia. While security agencies in Europe and beyond are worried about militants returning from Syria, Indonesia knows only too well how foreign battlefields, training opportunities and contact with al-Qaida can lead to deadly results. Indonesian anti-terror officials estimated there were around 50 Indonesian militants fighting against the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria and the number is expected to grow. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

JAKARTA: Indonesians who have joined fellow extremists fighting in Syria could help reinvigorate a once-powerful militant group responsible for major bombings in the world’s most populous Muslim country, a report said.

“The conflict in Syria has captured the imagination of Indonesian extremists in a way no foreign war has before,” said a report by Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict published this week.