Indonesia’s most wanted Muslim extremist, Santoso, has been killed in a firefight with security forces, police confirmed today, ending a lengthy hunt for the Islamic State (IS) group supporter.
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Luhut Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, said he had received reports that two members of the East Indonesian Mujahidin (MIT) had been killed at around 5.30pm local time in an exchange of gunfire with security forces in Tambarana village, Poso, Central Sulawesi. Santoso, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, has been chased by Indonesia’s police and Indonesia’s special counter-terrorism squad Densus 88 for years.
“I’ve just received information that the fingerprint matches an old one of [Santoso]”, National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said in Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon.
However General Tito said their bodies would be flown to Palu where their identities would be confirmed by family members and DNA testing.
Santoso was reportedly a former seller of religious books who was inspired by Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, a firebrand cleric and spiritual leader of JI now serving time in an Indonesian prison.
Three other militants, including two women, escaped into the jungle during the shootout early on Monday evening.
The 41-year old Santoso alias Abu Wardah, who hails from Central Sulawesi, had been hunted down by security forces over the past several years under the so-called Tinombala Operation. “We need to scientifically prove that it was Santoso who was shot dead”, Amar said.
“There have been well over 100 people who have gone through his training network, and therefore developed some kind of ties with him, so that he has become the symbolic heart of the jihadi movement”, Sidney Jones, director of Jakarta think-tank the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, told AFP.
The bodies of Santoso and Mochtar were identified at a police hospital in the capital of Central Sulawesi.
Santoso, also known as “Abu Wardah”, has been Indonesia’s most highly sought militant but not necessarily its most risky.
One other militant was also reported to have been killed.
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For several months, security personnel have besieged Santoso’s group from all directions, leading the terror group to continue to search for new hideouts and revise logistical plans, police said. “We will increase our forces to pressure the rest of the members”.
