Indonesia security forces kill two fugitive Chinese Uygur militants in Sulawesi shoot-out
Police said the men had joined Santoso, a militant in Poso in central Sulawesi, who is Indonesia’s most high-profile backer of Islamic State, and have been on the run for more than three years
Indonesian security forces have killed two ethnic Uygur Chinese belonging to a militant network led by the country’s most wanted man, police said on Wednesday.
Indonesia has launched an aggressive, military-backed, security campaign in the jungles of Sulawesi island as it battles the threat from growing domestic support for the Islamic State militant group.
Police said the men, part of China’s Uygur Muslim minority, had joined Santoso, a militant in Poso in central Sulawesi, who is Indonesia’s most high-profile backer of Islamic State, and have been on the run for more than three years.
Tuesday’s shoot-out followed a challenge by security forces to a group of unknown men to identify themselves, during an operation to comb through a forested area of Poso, which is more than 1,600km northeast of Jakarta, the capital.
“Based on testimony from another suspect we had arrested, those two were identified as Uygurs,” said Central Sulawesi police spokesman Hari Suprapto, adding that authorities had notified the Chinese embassy in Jakarta.
A Chinese embassy press official said no information had yet been received on the deaths, however.