Indonesian Security Forces Have Crushed the Islamist Insurgency in Poso

Indonesian security forces are hunting down the last remaining members the badly weakened East Indonesia Mujahideen, an ISIS-linked terrorist cell that was responsible for a series of bombings and attacks on police in Central Sulawesi.

It's been a year since local police, Densus 88, and the Indonesian military (TNI) began the latest joint operation to dismantle the terrorist network and restore calm to a province that has been plagued by a history of sectarian clashes.

The joint-task force, dubbed Satgas Tinombala, killed the group's leader Santoso in a shootout with police last July. Santoso, once declared Indonesia's most-wanted man, spent years hiding in the jungle outside Poso, sporadically uploading YouTube videos to taunt police.

His group launched suicide attacks, planted roadside bombs, and gunned down officers and suspected informations for years. Most targeted the police directly, but civilians were also injured in the bomb attacks.

Security forces expected the East Indonesia Mujahideen, or MIT, to collapse after his death. Nearly one year later, their predictions have proven correct. The group, now led by Ali Kalora, lacks the capacity to recruit new members or plan terrorist attacks. The final seven are instead focused on staying on the run, and one step ahead of the police.

"They used to unsettle people and attack officials, but now they're simply on the run," Adjutant Chief Commissioner Hari Suprapto, a spokesman for the Central Sulawesi Police, told local media.

At it's height, the East Indonesia Mujahideen had as many as 40 members. It rose from the ashes of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which was once active in Poso. JI had supported the local insurgency for years in Poso, but eventually fell apart after a series of arrests gutted the group's upper ranks.

Satgas Tinombala was the latest of at least 10 operation to target group since 2012. At least 30 members were killed by security forces. The rest surrendered or were arrested.

The organization is a shadow of what it once was today, but that doesn't mean the threat is entirely over, experts warned. The group would've never survived so long on the run if it didn't have the support of local civilians, explained Sidney Jones, Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC).

"MIT groups have support from civilians surrounding coast of Poso," she told VICE Indonesia. "Without this support, they wouldn't have survived. This probably goes back to 2001 Poso conflict."

And Santoso himself still enjoyed wide support in his hometown even after his death. When his body arrived in his hometown, a banner stood tall reading: "Welcome, Syuhada Poso, Santoso a.k.a Abu Wardah."

"I'm afraid MIT members have already planted radicalism in the hearts of Poso's civilians," said Solahuddin, a terrorism expert at the University of Indonesia.