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Military support in C.Sulawesi counterterrorism operation praised
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National Police chief Gen.Tito Karnavian (right) and Indonesian Military commander Gen.Gatot Nurmantyo (center) leave the Bhayangkara Hospital in Palu, Central Sulawesi, after they examined the bodies of terrorist Santoso and his follower Mukhtar at the hospital's mortuary on Wednesday. (Antara Foto/Basri Marzuki)
N
ational Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian expressed his thanks to Indonesian Military commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo over the latter’s support for Operation Tinombala, which led to the death of Indonesia’s most wanted terrorist Santoso in a shootout in Poso, Central Sulawesi, Monday.
“Without good cooperation, the operation would not have yielded the optimal result that we’ve seen now,” he said on Wednesday.
Responding to The Jakarta Post’s question about two of Santoso’s followers who were still at large, namely Basri and Ali Kalora, Tito asserted that the police would continue Operation Tinombala by using two methods, namely hard and persuasive approaches.
He highlighted the importance of Operation Tinombala, saying that in terrorism networks in Indonesia, there was a concept called Qaidah Amina, in which Poso was considered an ideal place to launch their radical movements.
He further said it was a bit easier for local people in Poso to accept the presence of crime perpetrators in the area because it had quite a long history of conflict. Poso was also ideal for a guerrilla warfare due to its geographical conditions, isolated and far from the central government and with forest and mountainous areas.
Santoso was killed in a raid conducted by Operation Tinombala personnel in a forest in Tambarana village, around 60 kilometers from Poso at 5:30 p.m. local time on Monday. He was shot dead by a military group comprising nine personnel from Kostrad’s Infantry Battalion Raider 515, led by Second Sgt. Firman Wahyudi. (ebf)
