23 July 2016•Update: 25 July 2016
By Ainur Rohmah
TUBAN, Indonesia
Operations against a militant group hiding in the jungles of Indonesia’s central Sulawesi will continue after its leader was confirmed dead, according to security forces.
A body confirmed to belong to the country’s most wanted man Abu Wardah Santoso, whose East Indonesia Mujahideen has pledged allegiance to Daesh, was buried Saturday in Central Sulawesi province’s capital Palu.
A suspected follower killed alongside him in a gunfight with police earlier this week was interred near him.
Kompas.com quoted National Police Chief Gen. Tito Karnavian as saying Friday that DNA test results proved that one of the fatalities was Santoso.
Karnavian, former head of the National Counter-Terrorism Agency, said the joint military and police operation launched against the militant group in the mountains of troubled Poso town would continue as its members were weakened.
"If there is a proposal that [security forces] have to be withdrawn, it will be dangerous. They [terrorists] will be regrouping, forming new leadership, consolidation," he said.
He added that the 3,000-strong force might be reduced following the capture of Santoso's two right hand men -- Ali Kalora and Basri, who like many Indonesians use only one name.
Karnavian also confirmed that Santoso’s wife, Jumiatun Muslimayatun a.k.a Delima, was captured after escaping the gunfight Monday.
"Yes, Santoso's wife has been arrested," he said, adding that female police were treating her well in custody.
He called on the remaining members of the group, believed to now number around 18, to surrender so as to be treated with leniency.
According to Central Sulawesi’s police spokesman, Delima had been following her husband as his group engaged in guerrilla activities.
"Based on the photographs obtained by task team, Jumiatun also practiced [military training] and carrying rifles," adjunct commissioner Hari Suprapto was quoted as saying by detik.com.
Police had been hunting Santoso for five years for masterminding the shooting of a police officer in Palu in 2011.
At the end of 2012, Santoso and another leading militant, Daeng Koro, declared the establishment of the East Indonesia Mujahideen, which has since been recruiting people from across Indonesia and providing military training in the Biru Mountains.
Since January, the task force's Operation Tinombala has besieged the group, cutting off communication between them and their sympathizers and families, as well as disrupting their supply lines.
Police estimate that the number of members has dropped from more than 40, with some surrendering amid intensified pressure.
Since a Jan. 14 terrorist attack in central Jakarta -- in which four civilians and four Daesh-affiliated assailants were killed -- the government had tightened security and focused its operation to catch Santoso.
In March, the United States included Santoso on its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
