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Indonesia
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Indonesia on alert after Isis-linked group MIT beheads farmer to ‘sow terror’

  • The East Indonesia Mujahideen (MIT) attacked a village in Central Sulawesi, leaving four dead, including a man whose decapitation was witnessed by his wife
  • The weekend killing was conducted in response to a government-ordered strike that left two of the MIT’s militants dead, the military said

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Police inspect a village in Central Sulawesi after a militant attack on Saturday. Photo: Handout/AFP
Amy Chew
Indonesian security forces on Monday warned of further militant attacks, as they hunted for the remnants of a pro-Islamic State (Isis) group that killed four Christians in Central Sulawesi over the weekend, including one victim who was beheaded in an effort by the group to “sow terror” in society.

The grisly deaths of the Salvation Army members in the western Sigi regency was carried out on Saturday by the East Indonesia Mujahideen (MIT), a terrorist group based in the mountains of the neighbouring Poso regency.

MIT leader Ali Kalora decapitated one of the victims as an act of vengeance against the recent slaying of two of their militants, said Brigadier-General Farid Makhruf, commander of a military force that covered Central Sulawesi.

Ali Kalora, leader of the East Indonesia Mujahideen terror group. Photo: Handout
Ali Kalora, leader of the East Indonesia Mujahideen terror group. Photo: Handout

“The victim, Yasa, was beheaded in a killing that was witnessed by his wife who managed to escape,” said Farid, adding that the man’s head was found 10 metres (32 feet) from his body.

The MIT was known to carry out attacks at the end of the year, Farid said. “If we don’t hunt them down and stop them, this is going to cause fear among people.”

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