POSO, Indonesia – The extremist website al-Ansar007 has posted a claim of responsibility for the murders of three police officers on Thursday (December 20th), local media reported.
The posting, cited in a report by Detik News, said the slaying and wounding of police personnel in Central Sulawesi was in retaliation for the killing of Muhammad Khoiri (also known as "Jipo", "Kriting" and "Ibeng"), a suspected terrorist and paramilitary trainer. He died in a shootout with police in Central Sulawesi early last month.
A spokesperson for the national police, Surhadi Aliyus, said investigators are examining the website to see if they can identify and locate those involved in the posting. The country's Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has called for the Al-Ansar007 site to be shut down because it could foster an escalation in terrorist activity or sectarian violence in Central Sulawesi.
National police have sent reinforcements to the Central Sulawesi district of Poso, local media reported on Friday (December 21st) in the wake of Thursday’s deadly ambush against a police patrol.
The attack by ten or 15 gunmen killed three noncommissioned officers and wounded several others. One of the victims was buried at the Heroes Cemetery in South Sulawesi on Friday, according to the Jakarta Post.
National Police chief General Timur Pradopo declined to speculate on who was responsible for the attack, other than saying that the perpetrators were part of a terror network, the Jakarta Globe reported.
Police say they have made more than five arrests in the case.
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