Three Indonesian terrorists arrested, one of them on the run for 11 years
They were allegedly members of Mujahideen Indonesia Timur or MIT.
CENTRAL SULAWESI: Indonesia’s counterterrorism police force Densus 88 and the Central Sulawesi Police Mobile Brigade Corps reportedly arrested three suspected terrorists, including one one on the run for 11 years, in Central Sulawesi province in on Thursday (Dec. 19).
One suspected terrorist named Wawan alias Mut was arrested in Palu City while the other two, identified using their initials AS and RR, were detained in Ampana, Tojo Una-Una Regency.
The three were arrested because they were suspected of being involved in the Eastern Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) terror group, a local pro-Islamic State outfit reported to have been defunct.
Wawan was arrested at one of his relatives' houses in Baiya Village, Tawaeli District. He has been in Palu for the past month. Wawan is known to have been on the wanted list and a fugitive for the past 11 years.
Densus 88 secured evidence in the form of bags, cell phones and identity cards.
Head Baiya Village’s neighbourhood watch Adi Suwarman said he did not know where Wawan was living in the house.
"Wawan's family never reported to the local RT," he was quoted as saying using the abbreviation for Rukun Tetangga or neighbourbood watch.
During the 11 years, Wawan, allegedly a member of the MIT Poso group, continued to hide and move from place to place, even though he had been advised to surrender.
According to Adi, Wawan was registered as a resident of Sipi Village, Sirenja District, Donggala Regency, also in Central Sulawesi. He was in Palu City to look for work.
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Police in 2022 said MIT in Central Sulawesi has been wiped out following the death of its last fugitive who had been hiding in the mountains.
Al Ikhwarisman alias Jaid, a 34-year-old man nicknamed Pak Guru, was killed in a shootout with members of Densus 88 during a patrol as part of Operation Madago Raya in Poso Pesisir Utara District, Poso.
"Jaid's death means that MIT's DPO (wanted list) has run out," Central Sulawesi Police Chief Insp. Gen. Pol. Rudy Sufahriadi told reporters in Palu then.
"Hopefully this is the end of the hunt for the DPO. And of course this is a success for all parties.”
The Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict’s (IPAC) analyst Deka Anwar said in 2022 that even though the MIT fugitive had been killed, it was not certain that the threat of terrorism had ended in Poso.
According to him, it may not be in the near future. However, the network of sympathisers and ideologies still exist, especially in Bima.
"But indeed, over the past few years, security forces have succeeded in preventing people from this network from going to Poso to join MIT," Deka told BenarNews.
"Prevention is important for security forces to carry out, including monitoring MIT networks outside Poso, such as in Bima and other provinces."
MIT was formed in 2010, rooted in the bloody conflict between Muslim-Christian communities in Poso that killed more than 1,000 people between 1998 and 2001.
This group is known for its brutal killings of civilians, especially those they consider to be informants for security forces.
MIT, alongside Jamaah Ansharut Daulah - which has been behind a number of terror attacks in Indonesia since 2016, are two militant groups in Indonesia affiliated with the Islamic State.
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