he government has confirmed that one of the people killed by personnel of the Operation Tinombala task force on Monday was indeed the country’s most-wanted man, Santoso.
"It can be confirmed Santoso has been shot dead. The other one is Muchtar, whom we previously thought was Basri," Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan said on Tuesday.
The two militants were shot dead on Monday evening by members of Alpha 29, an Operation Tinombala taskforce unit, in Poso, Central Sulawesi.
With the death of its most prominent member, the East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) terrorist group was now down to 19 militants, Luhut said, where all of them were still hiding in Central Sulawesi’s mountainous region.
The taskforce would continue to hunt down the MIT with more joint police and Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel, Luhut said, until the militant group was eradicated or agreed to surrender.
Security personnel were also prepared for any revenge attacks that were likely to happen following the death of MIT leader Santoso, a terrorist fugitive who had led guerilla attacks in the Central Sulawesi town of Poso for years, Luhut said. (bbn)
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