Poso troops and police to start raids on weapon
Poso troops and police to start raids on weapon
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A joint police and military force in Central Sulawesi will soon
launch a search-and-seizure raid for sharp weapons in the
violence-torn regencies of Poso and neighboring Morowali to
prevent retaliatory attacks against a well-armed hit-and-run gang
that has been terrorizing Christian villages of late, according
to authorities on Saturday.
The raids will involve thousands of police and military
personnel who have been deployed across the two regencies
following the series of attacks in the last two months, Central
Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Taufik Ridha was quoted by
Antara as saying.
Currently, there are some 3,400 police and soldiers on guard
at security posts along the trans-Sulawesi highway in Poso and
Morowali.
The national news agency did not specify when the new
operation would start.
Nor did Ridha, who declined to give out any more information
on the planned raids, but said that during the operations,
security forces would examine all drivers and passengers
traveling to and from Poso and Morowali to check for sharp
weapons.
He appealed to local people to immediately hand over their
guns and other sharp weapons to nearby security posts before the
arm raids were launched.
Those caught with firearms and other weapons during the
operation will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, he
warned.
The planned raids have become necessary in order to capture
the remaining suspects blamed for the recent attacks in Poso and
Morowali, which killed at least 20 people between October and
December, as well as preventing those who may be bent on revenge.
The death toll included at least eight people who died in the
latest attacks in November and December.
The latest incident took place in Kasintuwu neighborhood on
Dec. 5, killing Hidayat, 17, and injuring Vivin, 21, who were
shot, Antara reported.
The worst incident since the December 2001 peace deal was
inked, hit Poso on Oct. 12, this year, when masked gunmen
launched pre-dawn attacks on three mainly Christian villages of
Saatu, Pantangolemba and Pinedapa, killing at least nine people.
Three days earlier, three people were killed when what
appeared to be same gang, according to witness accounts, raided
Beteleme, also a mainly Christian village in Morowali and burned
30 homes and a church.
Ridha admitted the authorities were facing difficulties in
arresting all the attackers because it was believed that they
fled into the jungle and/or are being helped by some locals.
The one-star general attributed the difficulties to the
refusal of certain local people to give information on the
identity and whereabouts of the Christian-killing gang.
Several villagers are believed to have had some contact with
attackers, but they have declined to reveal the identities to
police, he added.
A number of suspects have been captured, some have been killed
in shootouts with the police, but several others remain at large.
Police have said the simultaneous attacks were well-planned to
destabilize Poso after the peace deal.
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, who
brokered the peace pact, has said the attackers were "well-
trained" and able to carry out the attacks efficiently.
Meanwhile, Vice President Hamzah Haz very eloquently deduced
that the renewed violence indicated that a "certain group" did
not want to see peace restored in Poso.
He also recommended that the police to step up vigilance
against such a group who was terrorizing villagers, but stopped
short of speculating on who the "certain group" could be.
The police have accused the attackers of being members of, or
linked to, Jamaah Islamiyah, a regional terror network blamed for
a wave of bombings across the country.