The Jakarta Post, March 13 2016
Following the death of two couriers of the East Indonesia Mujahiddin (MIT), Farhan and Sukardin, on Feb. 9, the terrorist group has reportedly become more desperate in its attempts to support itself. Apart from running out of equipment, the Santoso-led group is also rumored to have been cornered by the joint police-military Operation Tinombala.
Santoso terrorists reportedly robbed a kiosk belonging to Sartin Balea, 40, a resident of Rompo village in Central Lore district, Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, on Saturday. According to a security report obtained by journalists, group members openly entered the kiosk and took basic food items such as instant noodles, eggs, sugar, tea and coffee.
The report said that no one who witnessed the incident dared to try to stop the armed group. A Rompo resident told security officers that one of the robbers looked like Santoso, aka Abu Wardah, the MIT terrorist group leader.
On Feb.26, 21 MIT members were reported to have entered settlements in Watutau village in Lore Peore district and Torire village in Central Lore, Poso, to purchase staple foods. They reportedly took several residents hostage to guarantee the security of MIT members who were shopping in the villages.
Operation Tinombala commander, Sr. Comr.Leo Bona Lubis, said although the joint security team had not yet been able to arrest Santoso and his men, the police and military personnel had cornered the group in Gunung Biru and Poso Pesisir Bersaudara in Central Lore.
Leo further said one MIT member had been killed, forcing other members of the group to escape to the two areas. Reports suggest that the group now has only 15 to 30 supporters.
The police earlier said the MIT group had around 45 members, two of who were Uighur citizens and three others who were women from Bima, West Nusa Tenggara.
“Hopefully, we can arrest them in the near future but it will be better if Santoso and his men surrender,” Leo said.
The operation commander said that evidence confiscated by the Operation Tinombala joint security team suggested that the group did not only require food supplies but also equipment, such as weapons, ammunition and bombs. The confiscated equipment reportedly includes two long guns, one revolver, one USK Caribbean Jungle and two handmade rifles, he said.
Leo said other evidence confiscated during the operation in Central Lore included ammunition for firearms with various calibers. The largest ammunition confiscated was for 12.7-milimeter caliber firearms. This type of ammunition is usually used for M60 rifles, a type of belt-fed machine gun.
“We suspect that they obtained the ammunition for the M60 rifles from overseas,” said Leo.
M60 rifles are popular in NATO and non-NATO countries. Indonesia security authorities also use M60 rifles. Many Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members reportedly used M60 rifles.
“It is suspected that they [MIT members] got the M60 rifles and ammunition from Moro militants in the Philippines,” said Leo.
Around 3,000 members of military and policy elite groups, such as the police’s counterterrorism squad Densus 88, the Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus), the Banteng Raider battalion and the Navy’s elite force Yontaifib, are currently involved in the operation to capture Santoso.
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zo 13 maa 2016 - 21:43