National Police spokesman Insp
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Charliyan. (Tempo/Dian Triyuli Handoko)
The Islamic State (IS)'s extremist propaganda is believed to have spread to at least five Indonesian provinces, namely East Java, Lampung, Central Sulawesi, South Sulawesi and West Sulawesi.
Speaking to tempo.co on Wednesday, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Charliyan said the East Indonesian Mujahidin (MIT) terrorist group led by Santoso in Poso, Central Sulawesi, was part of the IS network and had allegedly received funds and other assistance from the global extremist group.
'The Santoso group is part of the IS network. You can see that the Poso terror group even has antitank weapons,' said Anton in Makassar, South Sulawesi, adding that the police was currently hunting down Poso terrorists in an operation called Camar Maleo IV.
The National Police's current main target, said Anton, was capturing Santoso, who is the country's terrorist kingpin and allegedly still hiding in the forests with dozens of followers.
'It's not easy to break into the terrorist lair, but we keep on trying,' said Anton.
Previously, National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti said Santoso had recently spread terrorist threats, which included a 9-minute video that appeared on social media, including Facebook, and called for attacks on Jakarta Police headquarters and the Presidential Palace this weekend. Authorities blocked the video on Monday. (kes)(+)
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