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Killed Poso terrorist had executor role in Santoso-lead group: Police
Central Sulawesi Police spokesman Adj
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span class="caption">Central Sulawesi Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Hari Suprapto shows journalists the photo of a suspected terrorist killed during a raid on Tineba Mountain, Taunca Village, on the southern shore of Poso, Central Sulawesi, on Wednesday. Hari said police believe the deceased was part of a frontline executor team in the radical East Indonesia Mujahidin group led by Indonesia's most wanted terrorist, Santoso. (thejakartapost.com/Ruslan Sangadji)
The Central Sulawesi Police have not yet identified a suspected terrorist killed in the Poso forest, but he is believed to have been part of a frontline team deployed by Santoso, Indonesia's most-wanted terrorist, for direct attacks to spread terror.
The person was killed on Tineba Mountain, Taunca Village, on the southern shore of Poso on Friday during a raid to hunt for Santoso, also known as Abu Wardah, the leader of the radical East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT).
Central Sulawesi Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Hari Suprapto said police believe they know the identity of the deceased, but they were waiting for confirmation by having the family identify the body, which is being kept in Bhayangkara Hospital in Palu.
"The intelligence team is tracking the location of his family. We hope we can find them and ask them to come to the police in the near future," Hari told reporters.
Early rumors that the body bore a resemblance to Santoso himself were later denied by police, who said the fugitive terrorist leader was still at large.
The MIT's frontline executor role is one of several layers that make up the structure of the radical group, which is believed to have been behind attacks on police officers in Central Sulawesi.
Santoso, Hari said, was in the command team at the top of the MIT hierarchy, along with Basri, also known as Bagong, and two Chinese Uighurs.
The task of the command team is to build communications with outside parties to gain support, arrange terrorism tactics and strategies, arrange attacks against those they consider enemies and also to train frontline executors, including in bomb ensemblage.
The second level of the hierarchy is made up of the executors, who are believed to number in the dozens. The executors are in the frontline of every gun battle against the police and the Indonesian Military (TNI) during raids.
Police also suspect that the members of this second layer kill civilians who help law enforcement, Hari said.
The third level of the MIT structure is made up of numerous supporters who are believed to be spread throughout Poso, Palu, Makassar and several other areas.
The supporters connect donors with the MIT, mobilize aid, such as clothes, food, money, weapons and bomb materials, for the main group and the executors. The supporters also help publicize MIT's mission over the internet and are involved in recruitment.
"Their targets [for attack] are people they call anshorut thogut (people who disobey God's rule], like the authorities and civilians," he said.
The police, in cooperation with the TNI, have intensified their operations in 2016 to hunt for Santoso, especially after the attack in Jakarta on Jan. 14 that claimed the lives of four civilians and left 25 people injured. (rin)(+)
