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.