REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Indonesian Police Watch (IPW) has urged the government to set a deadline for the security operation to hunt down Santoso alias Abu Wardah and his group members in Poso, Central Sulawesi.

"The operation to arrest Santoso no longer makes sense. The security personnel seem to be mocked by Santoso and his men who posted pictures on social media, while the TNI (Indonesian Defense Forces) and Police are struggling to catch them," IPW Chairman Neta S. Pane stated here, Monday.

Pane urged President Joko Widodo to take a firm stance and set a deadline for the arrests of Santoso and his men.

He said the security operation, which had been launched so far, did not make sense in view of the number of personnel deployed and the length of time spent but had yet failed to yield results.

Some three thousand security personnel comprising 1.8 thousand military soldiers and 1.2 thousand police officers were deployed for the Operation Tinombala, which had been ongoing since January 10 this year.

The trained officers are tasked with arresting or fighting Santoso and his 31 men who are believed to be poorly armed and hiding in Poso's mountainous areas.

The failure to arrest members of the Eastern Indonesian Muhahidin is due to the shortcomings in the country's intelligence apparatus, he pointed out.

The Operation Tinombala will end on March 10, 2016, but a decision was reached to extend it for two months.

Last year, the joint police and military operations called Maleo Seagull I until IV were conducted to fight Santoso and his gang members.

Since January 9, this year, the government's security forces had caught two members of Santoso's gang alive and had killed eight others.

The members were reportedly running short of food and weapons, and some of them had become disloyal to Santoso.

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