An armed civilian group is alleged to have shot one person dead and slaughtered two others in Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, amid the arrests of six members of the fugitive Santoso-led network this week.

The shooting of Dolfis Alipa, alias Tommy, 22, a student at Sintuwu Maroso University, occurred on Thursday in Tangkura subdistrict. He was found dead with three gunshot wounds to his body.

'€œThe victim was shot dead on his way home from a field not far from his house,'€ Poso Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Ronny Suseno said over the phone on Friday.

Ronny said Tommy had left the field earlier than his mother, Jana Ode, and his elder brother, Dian, to move their cows home.

Just a few minutes after Tommy left, his mother heard the sound of three gunshots and with Dian ran to see what had happened.

'€œThe mother found her son was already dead and covered in blood,'€ Ronny said.

Ronny also said that on their way to the site of the shooting, they met a group of armed people and even had the chance to talk to them.

'€œThis is revenge for arresting two of my friends,'€ said Ronny, quoting what he said one of the armed individuals told the victim'€™s mother.

The same group allegedly also killed two other locals, Heri Tobio, 55, and Aditla Tetembu. Like Tommy, both were attacked on their way home.

The police found both residents dead with their throats slit.

The National Polices Densus 88 counterterrorism unit has arrested six people in Poso this week alleged to have links with the Santoso-led group.

They were identified only by their initials R, S, H, R, A and I.   A local with the initials IS, of Pandajaya Pendolo subdistrict, Poso, was also killed as the Densus team attempted to arrest him in East Luwu, South Sulawesi.

Head of the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), Comr. Gen. Saud Usman Nasution, said that the agency had prepared two ways of dealing with terrorism in Poso, namely hard and soft approaches.

For the hard approach, he said, his side would involve the military and the police to arrest members of terrorist groups in Poso.

Meanwhile, the soft approach would promote de-radicalization, improve public awareness of the law and improve public welfare.

'€œWe will conduct these approaches comprehensively and concurrently,'€ Saud said.

He added that routine operations by the local police against terrorists would continue indefinitely.

Poso was the scene of sectarian conflict that first broke out from 1998 to 2000. Over 2,000 people were killed or went missing during that period.

In 2001, a peace meeting resulted in a peace agreement called the Malino Declaration. Since the declaration was made, no mass religious conflicts have been reported.

However, new radical groups were born, including Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) led by cleric Abu Bakar Ba'€™asyir, who is now serving a sentence of 15 years in Nusakamba-ngan Penitentiary in Central Java. Later, another group, Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), emerged and was eventually vanquished.

More recently, another armed civilian group, calling themselves East Indonesian Mujahidin (MIT), has emerged under the leadership of Santoso.

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