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An Australian Federal Police (AFP) intelligence report details how the AFP was watching two Indonesian pilots who may have been radicalized by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL).
According to the report obtained by the Guardian and an affiliated publication tied to former columnist Glenn Greenwald and former intelligence community contractor Edward Snowden, Facebook posts by pilots Ridwan Agustin, (also known as Hobi Panahan), and Tommy Hendratno, (a.k.a. Tomi Abu Alfatih) gave the appearance the two supported ISIL.
The AFP report said the pilots, if they had become radicalized, were an obvious threat, “as witnessed by past global events” and noted that a recent edition of Al Qaida’s magazine had encouraged aviation attacks.
Agustin formerly worked for AirAsia Indonesia and the report said he flew international and domestic routes.
The report indicated Agustin began posting support for ISIL beginning in November 2014. The AFP said Agustin had commented on the Facebook page of Heri Kustyanto, who is believed to have left his Indonesian family to fight with ISIL in Syria or Iraq. Agustin, posting under his alias, is also reported to have befriended radicals and listed his resident city as Raqqa, Syria.
According to the AFP report, Hendratno resides in Bogor, near Jakarta, and was a pilot for the Indonesian Navy before Garuda and Premiair. The AFP says that, by December 2014, Hendratno was posting pro-ISIL messages online.
The AFP distributed the report to partners in Turkey, Jordan, London, the U.S. and Europol, The Intercept reported. The Intercept was created to report on documents provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Australian police monitored Indonesian airline pilots possibly radicalized by ISIL added by World Tribune on
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