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16-year-old returned to family after trying to join MIT
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Soldiers of Indonesian Military (TNI) prepare to continue Operation Tinombala in Poso regency of Central Sulawesi on April 6. Operation Tinombala, which was launched in January and involves 3,500 National Police and military personnel, was set up with the aim of capturing Indonesia's most wanted terrorist Santoso and his radical group, the East Indonesia Mujahidin, who are hiding in the mountainous area of Poso. (thejakartapost.com/Ruslan Sangadji)
T
he Operation Tinombala task force has returned a 16-year-old boy to his family after he was arrested by security personnel in Tamanjeka Village of Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, as he headed to Mount Biru to join the remaining members of the East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) terrorist group.
Security officials returned the boy to his family in Ampe Angke subdistrict of Agam regency, West Nusantara, on Tuesday, Tinombala task force spokesman Adj.Sr.Cmr. Hari Suprapto said on Thursday.
The teenager went to Poso after being invited by a friend, whom he knew from social media, Hari added.
He was arrested on Sept. 18 on his way to Mount Biru to join the notorious guerillas hiding in the mountainous forests of Poso. After learning about his motive, the task force decided to release him and returned him to his parents.
"He is very young, it would be better to try to understand why he did what he did," Hari told The Jakarta Post.
From the arrest, Tinombala task force confiscated the boy's clothes. No identity card was found on him and he told security personnel that his ID card had been taken by someone who admitted to being a former member of MIT. He also was found with Rp 86,000 (US$6.6), which he said he had received from the same man who took him to Poso.
Mount Biru is known as the hideout and military training place of the MIT terror network, which was led by the now deceased Santoso, aka Abu Wardah. Security personnel believe the group is getting weaker and that only around 11 remaining members are still hiding in Poso after a series of offensives launched by the Tinombala task force since January. (rin)
