Three Poso gunmen killed, two more captured

La Remmy, The Jakarta Post, Palu, Central Sulawesi

A joint police and military force killed three gunmen and captured two other suspects in the killing of at least 13 people in recent attacks in Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, police said on Saturday.

The two arrests on Saturday brought the number of suspects being detained to seven.

Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Taufik Ridha, who was in Poso on Saturday, identified the two men who were most recently arrested as Aco, 27, and Andang, 23.

He said the two were currently being held at the Beteleme Police station in the neighboring regency of Morowali, along with the five suspects arrested on Friday after a shoot-out.

The suspects are being interrogated by a team from the National Police Headquarters that includes Brig. Gen. Dibyo Widodo and Brig. Gen. Aribianto, Taufik said.

He said that during Friday's firefight in a forest near Bintangor village -- some 40 kilometers from Beteleme, the police and soldiers killed three suspects.

The bodies of Ari, 25, Ali Lasawedi, 31, and Saddam, 30, were flown on Saturday by helicopter to Poso General Hospital.

The five men arrested following the firefight were identified as Ishak, 39, Ardianto, 21, Habit, alias Arief, 22, Hasyim, 25, Aswan, 36, and Andang, 23.

Taufik said two of the gunmen -- Saddam and Habit -- hailed from Lamongan regency in East Java province.

Lamongan is the hometown of Amrozi, Ali Imron and Ali Ghufron, alias Muchlas, who were sentenced either to death or life in prison for their roles in the Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

"The remaining detainees are local residents from the subdistricts of Poso Kota and Ampana. They are all Muslims," Taufik said.

The provincial police chief said he would announce the details of the suspects' identities and associations once investigators found sufficient evidence to charge them.

Masked gunmen descended on three coastal villages in the religiously divided town of Poso on Oct. 12, killing nine people, mostly Christians.

Two days earlier, attackers killed three people and burned down 30 homes in Beteleme, a mainly Christian village. Another man was found dead in Poso last Thursday after having been reported missing after the Oct. 12 predawn raid.

The attacks have raised fear of a major flare-up in fighting between Muslims and Christians in Poso, where about 2,000 people have been killed in religious violence since 2000.

Top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who visited Poso after this fresh spasm of violence, and other government officials have said well trained outsiders may be to blame for the latest attacks.

Police and soldiers continue to hunting the mysterious gunmen, who are thought to be hiding in the jungle around Poso and Morowali.

Meanwhile, there are rumors that unidentified gunmen will attack the village of Tabalo in Poso Pesisir subdistrict. In response to the rumors, security forces have sent three trucks of personnel to the village.

Subandi, a resident of Poso, said the tension had increased with the arrival of the bodies of the three killed gunmen at the general hospital.