T

hree people, including a member of the police'€™s mobile brigade (Brimob), are dead following a gun battle between the police and suspected members of the East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) militant group in Poso, Central Sulawesi, on Tuesday morning.

The other two fatalities are believed to be members of the terrorist group led by Santoso, alias Abu Wardah. The shooting occurred at 10:27 a.m. local time in Sanginora subdistrict, Poso regency, some four hour'€™s drive from the Central Sulawesi provincial capital of Palu.

Commander of Operation Tinombala, Sr. Comr. Leo Bona Lubis, told The Jakarta Post by phone that the security forces had received a report from locals saying that two strangers had repeatedly been seen in their area in a pickup carrying food supplies.

In a follow-up the police conducted spot checks of traffic in the area in the course of which the police officer was shot in the neck by two men traveling in a pickup.

'€œ[The police] retreated a short distance and returned fire. The two suspected MIT members were shot dead in the vehicle,'€ Leo said.

The Brimob officer, identified as Brig. Wahyudi Saputra, was immediately rushed to hospital after the shooting but was dead on arrival. His body was later sent to the Central Sulawesi Police'€™s Bhayangkara Hospital in Palu.

The bodies of the two suspected terrorists were also taken to Palu, Leo said, adding that he could not yet provide detailed information regarding the exact circumstances of the suspects'€™ deaths.

'€œBasically they died at the scene as a result of being shot,'€ he said.

He believed that the two terrorist suspects were tasked with supplying food for the MIT group, which is operating in the forest around Sanginora. What was not yet clear, he said, was whether the two persons were active members or just supporters of the armed group.

The security forces are currently conducting Operation Tinombala in Poso in their hunt for Santoso.

Up to 2,500 elite personnel from both the Army and the police have been deployed for the operation that is scheduled to last until March 10. The joint force has been operating in the forests in Poso, Parigi Moutong and Sigi.

Poso was formerly prone to sectarian conflict that first broke in 1998. The worst conflict occurred in 2000, claiming some 2,000 lives.

The conflict ended after peace talks involving Christian and Muslim representatives were held in Malino, South Sulawesi, in 2001, which resulted in a peace agreement between the conflicting parties.

Although no mass conflict has occurred since then, hard-line groups have started to emerge in the region with the Santoso-led MIT considered by the police to be currently the most dangerous. Two foreigners, believed to be ethnic Uighurs from China, and three women from Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, have reportedly joined the group, which recently affiliated itself with the Islamic State (IS) movement.