T

he National Police claimed on Tuesday that a joint-training session conducted by the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) with the Indonesian Military (TNI) would help the corps to catch the most-wanted terrorist suspect, Santoso, in Poso, Central Sulawesi.

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Suharsono said that Santoso always managed to elude capture because he had a superior capability to survive in the wilderness, something the police force hoped to learn from Kopassus, the Army'€™s Special Forces.

'€œOnly a few members [of Brimob] will have this opportunity and it would be good [for Kopassus] to share their skills, especially tracking abilities, something that is not taught in the police force,'€ he told reporters at the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta.

Anti-terrorism efforts in Poso have been ongoing for more than 14 years with little progress toward eradicating militant groups in the region. Santoso and his gang have been known to operate in the region for the last four years, hiding out in local forests to prevent themselves from being arrested.

The arrest seems more urgent now that the police suspect Santoso'€™s group has been communicating with the Islamic State (IS) movement.

Apart from improving the skills of Brimob officers, Suharsono said that further joint-training sessions would help forge a closer relationship between the TNI and the National Police to reduce potential conflicts in the future.

'€œIf they train together then they will be get to know each other better. This will hopefully reduce tensions,'€ he said.

On July 15, National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti sent a letter to the Army Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Mulyono, to allow some Brimob officers to join the Army'€™s raider training.

Badrodin was also reported to have said on Monday that TNI commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo had given the go-ahead for the plan.

However, TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Fuad Basya said that the military was reluctant to let police officers join the raider training.

'€œIt depends. Raider training is used to prepare the Army for combat and we might be blamed for militarizing the police [if they join raider training],'€ he said.

'€œWe will probably not be able to fulfill their request if the training involves raiding or combat.'€

Fuad said the police and military currently held many joint training sessions, including training for natural disasters, antiterrorism and security during the elections.

Meanwhile, the Setara Institute rights group lambasted the National Police'€™s request to join the Army'€™s raider training.

'€œKopassus was designed for combat while the Brimob was designed for security. The police'€™s main objective is to provide security while the TNI is meant for defense,'€ Setara Institute chairman Hendardi said, as reported by Kompas.com.

He suspected that the National Police'€™s request was evidence of its lack of confidence in developing its own human resources.

'€œSo far the National Police has only tried to reform the institution administratively while the performance and mentality remains the same as it has always been,'€ Hendardi said.