Jakarta | Fri, June 2, 2017 | 11:38 am
More than 1,000 Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police personnel taking part in Operation Tinombala in Poso, Central Sulawesi, will be deployed to help earthquake victims in Napu, North Lore district, Poso.
“The TNI is set to deploy 500 territorial operation personnel, while more than 500 others are TNI and National Police members who are part of the Operation Tinombala task force,” said Maj.Dedy Afrizal, the 132 Military Regional Command (Korem)/Tadulako spokesperson as quoted by Antara in Poso, on Thursday.
Part of the territorial operation team is scheduled to be dispatched to Poso by land on Friday while others will be deployed via helicopter. The police and military personnel will support the emergency response operation to help victims of a 6.6 Ritcher scale earthquake that occurred on May 29.
The Operation Tinombala task force is a joint TNI-National Police team established to hunt down the remaining members of the East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT) terror group.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the emergency response operation was still under way.
Poso Regent Darmin Agustinus Sigilipu announced a seven-day emergency response period from May 30 to June 5 to facilitate people’s access to emergency treatment.
Four people sustained serious injuries during the earthquake, while 21 others sustained minor wounds. No deaths were reported.
The earthquake damaged 348 buildings, 168 out of which were residential homes. The earthquake also damaged churches, mosques, schools and offices. Meanwhile, 328 families have been evacuated from their homes. (dis/ebf)