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Associated Press

Reuters

Indonesia’s most wanted militant with ties to the Islamic State group was killed in a shoot-out with security forces, Indonesian police said on Sunday, amid the country’s sweeping counterterrorism campaign against extremists in the remote mountain jungles.
A joint operation by military and police personnel killed Ali Kalora, leader of militant group East Indonesia Mujahideen (MIT), at a village on Sulawesi island on Saturday afternoon, according to a police statement.
The raid took place in the province’s mountainous Parigi Moutong district, said Central Sulawesi’s regional military chief Brigadier General Farid Makruf. It borders Poso district, considered an extremist hotbed in the province.
“Ali Kalora was the most wanted terrorist and leader of MIT,” Farid said.


Another militant, identified as Jaka Ramadhan, also known as Ikrima, was also shot dead. A hunt was underway for four other MIT members, police said.
Explosives, an M16 rifle and two machetes were found, along with other evidence of militant activity, following the raid.
Both bodies were evacuated early on Sunday to a police hospital for further investigation, police said.
Indonesia nabs over 100 extremist suspects amid ‘terror season’ fears
Ali took over as MIT leader after security forces killed its previous head, Santoso, in 2016.
Authorities believed MIT was behind the brutal murder of four villagers in central Sulawesi in November 2020, although the group did not claim responsibility.
Its former leader Santoso was once the most wanted militant in Indonesia, a country with the world’s largest Muslim population. Santoso was one of the first militants in Indonesia to pledge allegiance to Islamic State.
Ridwan Habib, a terrorism analyst with University of Indonesia, said the Sulawesi-based MIT group was unlikely to survive its leader’s death, although he suspected its members who are on the run would continue to fight security forces.
“Part of their ideology is seeking death because they believe death will take them to heaven. With their leader dead, they will seek death as well,” he said. “I’m not sure there will be a reestablishment (of MIT) or a new leader elected.”
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Saturday’s shoot-out occurred two months after security forces killed two suspected members of the group during a predawn raid in the same mountainous district.
The East Indonesia Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for several killings of police officers and minority Christians.
Security operations in the area have intensified in recent months to try to capture members of the network, targeting Kalora, the group’s leader.
Ali had eluded capture for more than a decade. He took over from Abu Wardah Santoso, who was killed by security forces in July 2016. Dozens of other leaders and members of the group have been killed or captured since then.
In May, the militants killed four Christians in a village in Poso district, including one who was beheaded. Authorities said the attack was in revenge for the killing in March of two militants, including Santoso’s son.
Makruf said that rugged terrain and darkness have hampered efforts to evacuate the two bodies from the scene of the shoot-out in the forested village of Astina.

He said the bodies of Kalora and his follower will be taken by helicopter on Sunday morning for further investigation and identification.
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, has kept up a crackdown on militants since bombings on the tourist island of Bali in 2002 killed 202 people, mostly foreigners.
Militant attacks on foreigners in Indonesia have been largely replaced in recent years by smaller, less deadly strikes targeting the government, mainly police and anti-terrorism forces, and people militants consider to be infidels, inspired by Islamic State group tactics abroad.


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Indonesia’s most wanted militant Ali Kalora killed in jungle shoot-out amid terrorism crackdown

Ali Kalora was the leader of the East Indonesia Mujahideen (MIT) terror group in Indonesia. Photo: Handout

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Kalora was the leader of ‘MIT’ – the East Indonesia Mujahideen network that had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State
Another suspected extremist, Jaka Ramadan, was also shot dead in the raid that was part of a sweeping counterterrorism campaign



Kalora was the leader of ‘MIT’ – the East Indonesia Mujahideen network that had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.


Islamic State

Terrorism

Islamic militancy

Crime

Indonesia’s most wanted militant Ali Kalora killed in jungle shoot-out amid terrorism crackdown

Kalora was the leader of ‘MIT’ – the East Indonesia Mujahideen network that had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State Another suspected extremist, Jaka Ramadan, was also shot dead in the raid that was part of a sweeping counterterrorism campaign

Kalora was the leader of ‘MIT’ – the East Indonesia Mujahideen network that had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State

Another suspected extremist, Jaka Ramadan, was also shot dead in the raid that was part of a sweeping counterterrorism campaign