13 killed as military helicopter crashes in Indonesia

Tatang Sulaiman, spokesman of Indonesia armed forces, on Sunday confirmed that a military helicopter crashed in Central Sulawesi province, killing all the 13 people on board.

He said the helicopter was carrying personnel to reinforce a police operation against militants operating in the district of Poso.

Sulaiman said military was suspecting that bad weather caused the crash.

He said Poso was the scene of deadly Muslim-Christian violence in 1999-2000, and the area has since become a known hotbed of militant activity.

Sulaiman said last week police killed two suspected fighters from China’s Uighur ethnic group in a gunfight in Poso as part of an operation to crush a group led by a wanted militant named Santoso.

He added that more than 2,500 military and police personnel have been deployed in the area since January.