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Police arrest two members of Santoso terrorist group
Central Sulawesi Police officers arrested two members of the East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) militant group on Friday in Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, as the suspected terrorists came down from the mountains to search for food
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East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) leader Santoso, aka Abu Wardah (center), reads his oath of loyalty to Islamic State (IS) leader Abubakr Albaghdadi Alhusaini Alquraisy in a still image taken from video footage obtained by Operation Tinombala (Courtesy of the Operation Tinombala Task Force/Ruslan Sangadji)
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entral Sulawesi Police officers arrested two members of the East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) militant group on Friday in Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, as the suspected terrorists came down from the mountains to search for food.
Officers arrested Ibad and Samsul when they went out to look for food in Padalembara village in the Poso Pesisir Selatan subdistrict at noon, before the Friday prayer in the area, National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti said on Friday.
"Poso Police officers are currently working to identifying them," he told journalists, confirming the news.
Badrodin and several National Police top officials visited Poso and Palu on Friday to check on the ongoing Operation Tinombala that aims to capture the MIT leader and Indonesia's most-wanted terrorist Santoso, aka Abu Wardah.
National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) chief Comr. Gen. Tito Karnavian and the police's mobile brigade chief Insp. Gen. Murad Ismail also joined the visit.
The joint police and military operation launched in January involves more than 3,500 personnel to hunt down the MIT guerillas hiding in the mountainous area of Poso forests.
Entering the fourth month of the operation, Santoso remains at large despite the intensifying efforts to bring down the radical group. Operation Tinombala personnel have so far arrested or killed 12 MIT members, bringing the group’s numbers to 29, from an estimated 41 members in total.
Officials earlier said that Santoso and his group had become desperate due to the ongoing operation and lack of food supply, adding that they have survived by eating anoa, maleo and cuscus, all of which are endangered species.
Santoso and his group are allegedly responsible for a number of attacks on police in Poso and the surrounding area since 2011. The group also pledged allegiance to global terrorist group the Islamic State (IS) in 2014, according to a video recently obtained by the Operation Tinombala taskforce. (afr/rin)
