--- description: Indonesian officials are 90% sure they have killed the country's most-wanted terrorist, Santoso title: Indonesia's Most-Wanted Terrorist 'Dead' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbce1b0678068d53e/69889c73bc6cfc6cab3ddd83/rtsinex-layout-comp.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [indonesia](/tag/indonesia/) ## indonesia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Police Say They Have Killed Indonesia's Most-Wanted Terrorist by [Yenni Kwok](/author/yenni-kwok/) ## Yenni Kwok Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 19, 2016 9:58 AM CUT  Indonesian security forces stand guard at the hospital where a body believed to be that of the country's most-wanted militant, Santoso, is lying in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, on July 19, 2016 Indonesian security forces stand guard at the hospital where a body believed to be that of the country's most-wanted militant, Santoso, is lying in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, on July 19, 2016Fiqman Sunandar—Antara Photo Agency/Reuters by [Yenni Kwok](/author/yenni-kwok/) ## Yenni Kwok Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 19, 2016 9:58 AM CUT Indonesia’s most-wanted terrorist, Santoso, has been[ shot dead](http://solo.tribunnews.com/2016/07/19/dpo-teroris-ditembak-kapolri-jenderal-pol-tito-untuk-sekarang-90-persen-dia-adalah-santoso "undefined") in the jungle of Central Sulawesi province, Indonesian police chief Tito Karnavian has said. Santoso, who led the East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) and had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS), died in a gunfight Monday in the remote jungle in Poso, along with another MIT member, local media reported. “For now, it’s a 90% chance that he was Santoso,” Tito, who headed the country’s counterterrorism agency, said on Tuesday. The other dead militant is believed to be Mukhtar, Santoso’s right-hand man, Tito [added](https://twitter.com/KompasTV/status/755304439985020928 "undefined"). **Read More:** [_ISIS Opens a New Battlefront in Asia With Jakarta Attacks_](http://time.com/4182127/indonesia-jakarta-attacks-isis-is-terrorism/ "undefined") Members of Santoso’s family had arrived in the provincial capital Palu to help with the identification process. Tito called on the 19 remaining members of the MIT, including Santoso’s wife, to surrender. Santoso, also known as Abu Wardah, took part in the Muslim-Christian conflict that wrecked Poso from 1998 to 2001\. He later became the leader of the Poso-based MIT in 2012 and pledged allegiance to ISIS in July 2014. “Santoso was the symbolic heart of the jihadi movement in Indonesia because he was the only person who could claim to control territory,” says Sidney Jones, a terrorism expert at the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict. “He had trained probably more than 100 Indonesians but also a few Malaysians, creating a powerful alumni network.” **Read More:** [_Indonesia’s Overcrowded Prisons Are a Breeding Ground for Islamic Extremism_](http://time.com/4208984/indonesia-extremism-deradicalization-prisons/ "undefined") MIT has also attracted members of the Uighur Muslim minority from China’s Xinjiang province. In September 2014, police arrested four Uighurs who [attempted to meet](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-uighurs-idUSKCN0PN1T820150713 "undefined") Santoso and join his militant group. Bona Lubis, the senior commander of the joint police-military operation that hunted Santoso and MIT, [said](http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/killed-santoso-fighter-uighur-police-say/ "undefined") in April it had killed five of six Uighur men who were known to have joined MIT. Despite this, Jones says Santoso’s death would have little impact on the rise of extremist violence in Indonesia “because the danger comes from urban cells; it was never from a ragtag group of insurgents in the jungles of central Sulawesi.” In January, ISIS claimed responsibility for [an attack](http://time.com/4184110/jakarta-attack-death-toll-suspects-isis/ "undefined") on Indonesia’ capital Jakarta, which caused eight deaths. And a suicide bomber, with links to ISIS, attacked the Central Java [city of Solo](http://time.com/4392782/indonesia-suicide-bomber-solo-surakarta-terrorism/ "undefined") earlier this month. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4412321/indonesia-terrorism-santoso-dead/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4412321/indonesia-terrorism-santoso-dead/"},"headline":"Police Say They Have Killed Indonesia's Most-Wanted Terrorist","datePublished":"2016-07-19T09:58:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:21:09.035Z","description":"Santoso, also known as Abu Wardah, headed the East Indonesia Mujahidin and pledged allegiance to ISIS","url":"https://time.com/4412321/indonesia-terrorism-santoso-dead/","keywords":["indonesia","ISIS"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbce1b0678068d53e/69889c73bc6cfc6cab3ddd83/rtsinex-layout-comp.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Yenni Kwok","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/yenni-kwok/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbce1b0678068d53e/69889c73bc6cfc6cab3ddd83/rtsinex-layout-comp.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Indonesian security forces stand guard at the hospital where a body believed to be that of the country's most-wanted militant Santoso is lying in Palu","caption":"Indonesian security forces stand guard at the hospital where a body believed to be that of the country's most-wanted militant Santoso is lying in Palu","creditText":"Fiqman Sunandar—Antara Photo Agency/Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/indonesia/","name":"indonesia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4412321/indonesia-terrorism-santoso-dead/","name":"Police Say They Have Killed Indonesia's Most-Wanted Terrorist"}}]}] ```