Santoso’s wife surrenders

POSO. The wife of East Indonesia Mujahidin terrorist group leader Santoso, aka Abu Wardah, Jumiatun Muslim, alias Umi Delima, surrendered when a group of Operation Tinombala Taskforce personnel were about to arrest her on Saturday, a police chief said.

“She did not attempt to resist the arrest,” the taskforce’s spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Hari Suprapto said on Saturday.

He further said the arrest occurred when a team from the Army Strategic and Reserve Command’s (Kostrad) Alfa 17 Raider Garut division patrolled along the location where a shootout between the Santoso group and taskforce personnel had taken place, leading to the death of the terror group’s leader on Monday. The team later spotted a woman, suspected to be one of terror suspects who escaped Monday’s shootout, walking near the Tambarana River, he went on to say.

“She was caught by surprise while she was walking (along the river),” said Hari. He said the woman, who wore a veil every day, did not have any weapons when she was arrested. She also did not attempt to flee like she did in Monday’s raid.

The police say Umi Delima was taken to the Central Sulawesi Police headquarters in Palu under tight security. She is now being detained and given medical treatment in a special room at the Bhayangkara Police Hospital.

Also on Saturday, thousands of people attended the burial ceremony of terrorist Santoso in Lantojaya village in Landangan, Poso Pesisir district. They hysterically shouted allahu akbar (God is Great) when Santoso’s body was taken to a cemetery in Lantojaya village for a burial. The burial process was led by Ustadz Adnan Arsal.

An ambulance carrying Santoso’s body arrived in Landangan at around 12:10 p.m., local time, on Saturday, tightly escorted by his supporters. Around 100 motorcycles and 20 cars participated in the convoy. Three Islamic State (IS) movement flags were displayed during the procession and several Santoso supporters appeared with IS t-shirts. The burial procession ran smoothly and peacefully. (Ruslan Sangadji)