Abu Wardah
| Abu Wardah Santoso | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Native name | الشيخ أبو وردة |
| Born |
21 August 1976 Tentena, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia |
| Died | 18 July 2016 (aged 39) Sulawesi island |
| Nationality | Indonesian |
| Other names | Abu Warda, Abu Wardah as-Syarqi, Abu Yahya |
| Organization | Mujahidin Indonesia Timur/Islamic State |
Santoso (21 August 1976 – 18 July 2016), known as Abu Wardah (Arabic: الشيخ أبو وردة), was an Indonesian Islamic militant and the leader of Mujahidin Indonesia Timur (MIT). He pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. He was killed on 18 July 2016 by the Indonesian police after two years of hiding in the jungles near Poso, Sulawesi.
Santoso was born 21 August 1976 in Tentena, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Tentena is about 7 hours by bus from the capital of Central Sulawesi, Palu. This small town of mostly Christians lies on the northern shores of Lake Poso. Tentena has a history of past conflicts with the surrounding Islamic villages.
He participated in military training in 2001. He was involved in jihad during inter-religious conflict between Christians and Muslims in Poso from 1998 to 2001. It is known that he was inspired by the preaching of Abu Bakar Bashir.
Some reports say he studied Islam at Al-Mukmin Islamic school in Ngruki district, Surakarta, Central Java.
According to an interview with Andi Baso Tahir, an old friend of Santoso in Tokorondo village, in 2006 Santoso was arrested for robbing a boxcar in a coastal town of Poso. He was jailed for a year. According to the friend, after he left prison, Santoso stopped militancy for a period and "became a peddler, selling cleavers, cooking utensils and clothes".
The same friend places him in Masani village, a coastal town of Poso, in 2012, where Santoso supposedly suddenly turned up during a daurah [koran reading].
Later, Santoso went to Tamanjeka where he met Bado, alias Urwah. Both were involved in the killing of two police officers in Tamanjeka in November 2012. The bodies of First Brig. Andi Sapa and Brig. Sudirman were found in a shallow hole with their throats slit. 300 officers and Army personnel from Gunung Biru in Tamanjeka withdrew from the area after failing to find Santoso.
On 10 July 2013, it was reported Santoso had appeared in a six-minute video posted on YouTube. He described Detachment 88, the Indonesian Special Forces counter-terrorism squad, as "a real enemy, a real Satan". "My brothers in Poso, I have felt how cruel Detachment 88 is to these people," and "Today, God almighty has decided that jihad will continue until judgement day", he says in the video.
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Wikipedia