Poso Fighting
Jan 23rd, 2007, in News, by PatungFourteen people have died in Poso during shoot-outs with anti-terrorist police.
The police Densus 88 unit, anti-terror squad, and the police Mobile Brigade, have been in a number of firefights with Muslim militants in the Central Sulawesi town of Poso beginning from the morning of the 22nd and centred on the Tanah Runtuh district.
It is believed 1 policeman (Roni Iskandar, Brimob) and 13 other people, at least some of them militants have been killed. antara 6 other policemen have been wounded. 25 men have been arrested, some of them on the “DPO”, the list of the 29 most wanted men in Central Sulawesi, men who are believed to be active members of Muslim terrorist cells. mediaindo
One report suggests the men killed belong to a group called “Mujahidin Karamanya”. detik Last week two suspected militants and one policemen were killed in similar fighting, see Poso Jihad.
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24th January
Police are continuing hunting for militants in Poso. Central Sulawesi Police Brigadier General Badrodin Haiti blamed terrorists for triggering the clash by throwing handmade explosives at police. He said his office had issued shoot-on-sight instructions for armed civilians.
More than fifty other militants are believed to have escaped the crackdown, fleeing to nearby hills and jungles. Badrodin said some of the escapees were thought to have undergone combat training in Afghanistan and the Southern Philippines.
They are dangerous because they still have automatic weapons and ammunition.
National Police spokesman Inspector General Sisno Adiwinoto said that the weapons used by the terror group came from the Philippines.
Defence Ministry secretary-general Lieutenant General Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said the ministry supported the police’s crackdown on armed civilians, because their weapons were not used to protect the country but to shoot at police.
Police said they seized a large haul of ammunition and bombs from the militants’ base in Tanah Runtuh district including 3 revolvers, 1 uzi submachine gun, 2 M16 machine guns, 1 AR-10, 1 Mouser, 1 US Carbine, 17 homemade guns, 22 homemade bombs, 3,489 bullets, 11 sharp weapons, 33 firearm magazines, 406 detonators, 7 arrows, 11 slingshots, 1 telescope, 1 handycam, 1 car and 3 motorbikes. antara
Authorities have arrested 24 other people, including two on the wanted list, Tugiran and Wiwin Kalahe al Tomo. antara
The two mens’ families denied they were arrested, however, saying the two surrendered out of fear that they would be shot by the police.
Hundreds of residents in Poso turned out for the burial of the victims. A day after the crackdown, Poso remained tense, with schools and many stores staying closed despite the arrival of 200 reinforcements from the National Police. antara Police imposed tighter security checks on roads heading in and out of Poso, and traffic was much lighter than usual.
Muslim leaders criticized the crackdown, however, saying it would fail to put an end to the real problems in conflict-torn Poso. Nahdlatul Ulama chairman Hasyim Muzadi urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to take over the matter personally.
But the problem is, our President never takes over a problem. He will just set up a team. He should oversee this matter.
He said the Poso conflict has reached an “emergency” level since it involves armed civilians. Setting up a government team, he said, would not solve the problem.
Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin expressed his concern and urged the government not to be heavy-handed in its efforts to combat terrorism. antara
We support the fight against terrorism, but not repressive acts. Such acts will not solve the problem but could cause new wounds among the people. The most important thing is for the police to uncover those responsible for the Poso conflicts.
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February 18th 2007.
An arrested man, Amril Miode alias Aat, says he fired three magazines of ammunition from an M16 at a police Barracuda vehicle during the shootout. None of the 90 odd bullets fired managed to hit anyone. Aat then escaped but gave himself up on 2nd February.
He says he was given the M16 by a cleric, Ustad Rian, on 9th January, along with six magazines. He went on to say that the police had treated him well in custody and he was sorry for all that he had done, including being involved in the 2005 Tentena market bombing, which killed 23 people. antara
16 Comments on “Poso Fighting”
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Naga says:
“Militants” in our land? – seems unreal but it’s true. And what’s disturbing is that by hiding behind the cover of religion, they are pretty much difficult to touch.”
Where have you been hiding?
This has been going on for decades in ‘your land’, people just shoved their head in the sand and ignored it.
It’s about time the police stopped pussy-footing around and took these guys out.
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1ndra says:
Well, that’s better act, but I feel sad for the deceased policeman.
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Dimp says:
Hi Indra,
It is an unfortunate incident that has to resolve to violence and death.
The Indonesian government need to act swiftly to resolve the issue of militants, any militants in Indonesia, they need to stomp its foot to eliminate any militant armies that threaten the country.
Just on this topic, I read that there were some “war training” activities that uses “gun replicas” that took place in Java, I wonder if the government will actually take this matter seriously or will they wait until something bad happens.
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Do you mean a real war training or a ‘war training’?
The second is about the game using the kind of air/ball/paint gun.
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Hi Indra,
I read about an article where civilians were equipped with gun-replicas and they practiced “holy war” against the enemy. What I don’t agree is that we as Indonesians have army that protects its people, when civilians are equiping themselves with weapons then they can be classified as mercenaries.
I hope the government will take this thing seriously before these people think that they go to far.
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They are not ‘civilians’, they are terrorists and the government is taking them very seriously, that’s why they are killing them.
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I read about an article where civilians were equipped with gun-replicas and they practiced “holy war” against the enemy. What I don’t agree is that we as Indonesians have army that protects its people, when civilians are equiping themselves with weapons then they can be classified as mercenaries.
I hope the government will take this thing seriously before these people think that they go to far.
Wew, that should be addressed immediately!
Before it reached into full scale holy war. -
Hi Indra,
I hope the government is addressing the problem at the very root level, that is by eliminating people inciting hatred, I just don’t understand why you have to hate anyone. We all live in one place, we are all human being, sure we have differences, but that shouldn’t make us hate one another.
Difference is what makes us as a human race great, can you imagine if everyone living on earth act, look, dressed exactly like anyone? I would be very annoyed and bored at the same time.
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Ihaknt says:
Dimp, might as well nuke the whole world and replace humans with robots!
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And we’ll dressed them in silver suit with a red V across…..
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Inal says:
The solution is simple. Think about it. Both religions say that we should forgive our enimies and love those who tourture us. The solution is to forgive.
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Imy says:
I learned a lot here. I watched POSO in youtube, it was said that Christians initiated the war. It was also mentioned in youtube that only the Christians were the ones who kill. But then with this article and the other articles I’ve read, it was JI’s. I’ll be reading other reports about this so I would thoroughly understand.
I once asked my Indonesian blockmate, [btw i’m from the Philippines] I asked him about POSO and he was not sure about it because he said that his hometown is quite far from POSO but he said that it’s not that violent anymore unlike before.
I am not an Indonesian but I really think that the government should push through on this. The images played on you tube includes children, innocent people. They just don’t die with a bang, they were butchered. I just hope that this would be over and that here in the Philippines, it would be also in peace.
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KSJ says:
I learned a lot here. I watched POSO in youtube, it was said that Christians initiated the war. It was also mentioned in youtube that only the Christians were the ones who kill. But then with this article and the other articles I’ve read, it was JI’s. I’ll be reading other reports about this so I would thoroughly understand.
I once asked my Indonesian blockmate, [btw i’m from the Philippines] I asked him about POSO and he was not sure about it because he said that his hometown is quite far from POSO but he said that it’s not that violent anymore unlike before.
I am not an Indonesian but I really think that the government should push through on this. The images played on you tube includes children, innocent people. They just don’t die with a bang, they were butchered. I just hope that this would be over and that here in the Philippines, it would be also in peace.
Imy, it’s Muslims who started all this, who else?
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Jokoboyo says:
Jokoboyo said, likewise Aceh … there were no peace in Aceh until God sent the huge massive Tsunami inorder to give them chance to understand if diversity in all aspects are good and people can & should help each other regardless the boundaries of countries or religions.
If Poso keep on fighting, it doesn’t matter who innitiated what & who did it first then God may sent another signals very soon …. just wait -
Aluang Anak Bayang says:
Re,
If Poso keep on fighting, it doesn’t matter who innitiated what & who did it first then God may sent another signals very soon “¦. just wait
Behold the reincarnation of Joyoboyo, the prophesy of our Ratu Adil is at hand.
Comment on “Poso Fighting”.
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“Militants” in our land? – seems unreal but it’s true. And what’s disturbing is that by hiding behind the cover of religion, they are pretty much difficult to touch.
I don’t think the government ALONE can solve the issue.