Joint team kills another Poso gunman, arrests six more<\/p>\n
La Remmy, The Jakarta Post, Palu, Central Sulawesi<\/p>\n
A top police official said on Sunday a joint military and police
\nforce have killed another gunman and arrested six other people as
\nthey combed Pawaru subdistrict, Lembo district in Central
\nSulawesi.<\/p>\n
The seven people were suspected of being involved in the
\nkilling of at least 13 people in recent attacks in Poso and
\nMorowali regencies in Central Sulawesi province.<\/p>\n
The arrest on late Saturday has brought the number of suspects
\nkilled during the manhunt operation to four, while the latest
\nevent has also brought the number of people arrested in the
\nmanhunt operation to 13.<\/p>\n
Taufik Ridha, the chief of Central Sulawesi police, said that
\nthe latest suspect killed was Rachmat Seba alias Romo, 38, who
\nwas believed to be the coach for the group of men perpetrated
\nattack in Poso and Morowali regencies.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the other four, who were arrested in the same
\noccasion, were H bin Tg, 20, R bin HMA, 23, SAK, 21 and AB, 40.<\/p>\n
In the Saturday raid, the joint team has also seized two U.S.-
\nmade M-16 rifles with two magazines and 206 bullets, and another
\nSKS rifle with one magazine and 20 bullets.<\/p>\n
The team also confiscated another magazine of SKS rifle, with
\n27 bullets in it. "Those people are all civilians. They wanted to
\nlive up conflicts in Poso, and tried to spread it into Morowali
\nregency," said Taufik in a press conference on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The police previously killed Ari, 25, Ali Lasawedi, 31 and
\nSaddam, 30. Other seven suspects, who were also arrested in the
\nprevious police combing in a forest near Bintangor village --
\nsome 40 kilometers from Beteleme subdistrict in Morowali regency,
\nwere Ishak, 39, Ardianto, 21, Habit, 22, Hasyim, 25, Aswan, 36,
\nAndang, 23, Aco, 27 and Ardiansyah, 26.<\/p>\n
All the 17 suspects, four were dead and 13 arrested, were
\nbelieved to have killed nine people, mostly Christians, in three
\ncoastal villages in Poso regency last week on Oct. 12.<\/p>\n
Two days before the Oct. 12, they believed to have killed
\nthree people and burned down 30 homes in Beteleme, in Morowali
\nregency, some 200 kilometers from Poso regency.<\/p>\n
The series of attacks have created fears of insecurity to the
\nresidents of the two regencies, and reminded them on bloody
\nfighting between Muslims and Christians in Poso since year 2000,
\nwhere about 2,000 people have been killed in religious violence.<\/p>\n
The sectarian conflict have been put to an end by a peace
\naccord in December 2001, but the possibility for conflict to
\nrevive again was still there.<\/p>\n
Taufik said that the joint team, led by Sr. Comr. Tatang
\nSoemantri, the Central Sulawesi Police's chief detective, were
\nnow hunting down other suspects believed to be involved in recent
\nattacks in Morowali and Poso regencies. They are among others Asw
\nand Endong.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the remains of Ali Lasawedi and Saddam, who were
\nkilled several days ago, were buried on Sunday afternoon in
\nPogego Muslim Cemetery in the South Sulawesi capital of Palu,
\nsome three hours drive from Poso regency. The remains of Ari was
\nalready buried in Palu on Saturday.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/joint-team-kills-another-poso-gunman-arrests-six-more-1447893297",
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