ational Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian has officially announced the extension of the Tinombala joint police-military operation, by three months until April this year, to root out what remains of the East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) terrorist group in Central Sulawesi.
Tito told reporters the extended operation was aimed at hunting down the remaining 10 MIT members, including Ali Kalora, who has taken a leadership role in the group following the death of its former leader, Santoso aka Abu Wardah, during a raid in Poso in July last year.
“We will evaluate members [of the operation]. We will hunt down Ali Kalora and his friends," Tito said on the sidelines of a ceremony at the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta on Wednesday.
(Read also: Operation Tinombala extended by three months as terror group still at large)
Working to pursue remnants of the MIT terror group, Operation Tinombala concluded on Jan. 3. Originally named Camar Maleo, the operation was initiated in 2015 to hunt down and neutralize the MIT, a terrorist group operating in Poso, Central Sulawesi. The operation had been extended several times because of its failures to capture Santoso.
Operation Tinombala commander Brig. Gen. Rudy Sufahriadi previously said the operation had managed to hunt down 32 MIT members, 10 of whom had been captured alive while the 20 others were killed during shootouts against security personnel. (ebf)
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