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police officer has been killed in a gun battle with members of a gang reportedly led by Santoso, the most-wanted terrorist in Indonesia, in Poso, Central Sulawesi.

The shooting broke out as a joint team of the police'€™s Densus 88 anti-terror unit and Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officers hunted members of the radical Mujahidin Indonesia Timur (MIT) group who were believed to be hiding in the mountainous Auma area, in Poso Pesisir Utara district, Poso regency, on Wednesday.

The police officer, identified as First Insp. Bryan T. Tatonas from the Central Sulawesi'€™s Brimob, received a fatal gunshot wound to the abdomen and a person believed to be the radical group member also died of multiple gunshots during the shootout

'€œA member of the MIT identified as Bado aka Osama also died [in the shooting],'€ Central Sulawesi Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Hari Suprapto told reporters on Thursday.

A previous gunfight with the armed group occurred in the area on Monday after the police raided a safe house in a village believed to be the hiding place of the militant group.

In that raid the police seized several guns, bombs, ammunition and an M-60 anti-tank gun belonging to the group.

National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti said the police were still hunting the group members.

'€œ[Police personnel] are still in the mountains; last night we deployed additional personnel,'€ Badrodin said on the sidelines of an event at the State Palace in Jakarta.

The National Police has deployed 146 of its Brimob personnel to beef up the hunt for Santoso group members and to assist in the removal of the bodies of the two men killed in the shootout.

'€œThe additional personnel arrived in Palu [the provincial capital of Central Sulawesi] at around 4 a.m. local time using a commercial flight and were immediately transported to Poso,'€ Hari said.

A flag was flown at half-mast in the lawn of the Central Sulawesi Police headquarters in Palu to honor the police officer who was killed in the line of duty.

Poso was rocked by a sectarian conflict between Muslims and Christians from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s. Thousands of Christians and Muslims became victims of the conflict.

Although the conflict officially ended with the signing of the Malino Accords in 2001 and 2002, the region remains a hot spot for terrorism.

Although no large-scale conflict has been reported in Poso since a peace agreement in 2001 ended the sectarian conflict that occurred between 1998 and 2000, new radical groups sprung up in the restive regency, including the Abu Bakar Ba'€™asyir-led Jamaah Islamiyah (JI).

The MIT, under the leadership of Santoso is one of the more recent manifestations.

Santoso'€™s terrorist group has frequently mounted attacks in the area and the police have launched a series of operations named Camar Maleo to hunt down Santoso and his group.

Poso is now also believed to be the training ground for supporters of the Islamic State (IS) movement.

In January, Densus 88 arrested six people in Poso who were alleged to have links with the Santoso-led group.

Despite denying any involvement in the fight against terrorism, the Indonesian Military (TNI) has also been dispatched to Poso.

The TNI rolled out an exercise, which started on March 22, as part of its quick reaction strike force (PPRC). The program involved 3,222 Navy, Army and Air Force personnel.

The force later left Poso and claimed that the terrorist group had left the mountain areas.