Indonesian Villagers Demand Firm Action After Terror Attack Kills 4
Voice of America
14 May 2021, 07:05 GMT+10
POSO, INDONESIA / WASHINGTON - Hundreds of Christians attended a mass funeral in a remote village of Indonesia s Central Sulawesi province Wednesday to mourn four people killed by militants linked to the Islamic State group.
Indonesian police told VOA that five militants attacked coffee farmers during harvest Tuesday and killed four of them in Kalemago village in Poso regency. These five people, one of whom is recognized by the witness, are in the Wanted List [for their membership] in the East Indonesian Mujahedeen, said Didik Supranoto, a senior commissioner and spokesperson for Central Sulawesi Regional Police.
May 14, 2021 Share
Hundreds of Christians attended a mass funeral in a remote village of Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi province Wednesday to mourn four people killed by militants linked to the Islamic State group.
Indonesian police told VOA that five militants attacked coffee farmers during harvest Tuesday and killed four of them in Kalemago village in Poso regency.
“These five people, one of whom is recognized by the witness, are in the Wanted List [for their membership] in the East Indonesian Mujahedeen,” said Didik Supranoto, a senior commissioner and spokesperson for Central Sulawesi Regional Police.
The East Indonesian Mujahedeen, also known as Mujahedeen Indonesia Timur (MIT), has been active in mountainous Poso district since 2010. The United Nations, Indonesia and the United States have labeled MIT a terrorist organization.
14 May 2021
The remote Indonesian village of Kalemago held a mass funeral Wednesday for four coffee farmers murdered by jihadists the previous day.
The primarily Christian residents of the village demanded “firm action” against the killers and seemed skeptical they would get it.
“Our hope for the government, the president, is to resolve this. If not, we will no longer be able to go out to earn a living. Frankly, we feel that no one is paying attention to us,” village secretary Otniel Papunde told Voice of America News (VOA).
The regional police said they know the identity of the five assailants, members of a group called the East Indonesian Mujahedeen or Mujahedeen Indonesia Timur (MIT). The group has been active since 2010 and swore allegiance to the Islamic State in 2014. Its founder, Abu Wardah Santoso, was killed by Indonesian security forces in 2016.