T

he National Police'€™s Densus 88 counterterrorism unit has arrested two residents of Poso, Central Sulawesi, for allegedly supplying food to the Santoso and Daeng Koro-led terrorist network.

Central Sulawesi Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Hari Suprapto confirmed the arrests, revealing that they had been made on Wednesday morning.

Hari said the police had first arrested Andriansyah, 27, of Tabalu subdistrict, Poso Pesisir district, while the suspect was harvesting rice in his field in Masamba Poso Pesisir subdistrict.

Hari explained that Andriansyah was suspected of supplying food to the terror group in its hideouts.

'€œThe arrest was made because the police want to cut off the terror network,'€ Hari told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Earlier the same day, the police apprehended another local, Mulyadi, 23, at his house in Ratolene village, Poso Pesisir.

According to locals, Andriansyah and Mulyadi frequently disappeared from their villages for days. Both were also often seen going into and coming out of the forest unexplainedly.

Hari said the two men were currently being detained at the Central Sulawesi Police headquarters and would most likely be transferred to the National Police headquarters for further questioning.

Following the arrests, some 15 members of the Densus 88 patrolled areas around Masamba Poso Pesisir.

The arrests and patrols are part of Operation Camar Maleo 2015, which was initially scheduled to end this month. The operation will most likely be extended until its main targets, Santoso and Daeng Koro, are arrested.

Earlier, Governor Longki Djanggola expressed hope that the security forces would be able to capture the terrorist leaders in Poso soon, as their presence had caused fear among local people and disrupted daily life.

Several local farmers have reportedly been kidnapped and killed by the terror network.

Last week, police released video footage that purportedly shows IS supporters conducting combat training in a jungle in Poso.

The video also threatened locals with death if they told police of the group'€™s whereabouts.

Police said there were currently believed to be some 20 people in the group, armed with guns and homemade bombs.

Some 2,000 people are reported to have been killed in sectarian fighting in Poso, which broke out for the first time in 1998.

The conflict came to an end in 2001 following a peace agreement between the conflicting parties called the Malino Declaration.

Since then, no mass conflict has occurred. However, terrorism began to blossom in the region, marked by the emergence of alleged terror groups such as the Poso Mujahidin paramilitary group and the Eastern Indonesia Mujahidin led by Santoso and Daeng Koro. The latter group has been linked to the Islamic State (IS) movement.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno earlier said that the intelligence services had detected the presence of IS in Poso, including foreign members, especially in the district'€™s mountainous areas.