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AlJazeera.net, 22 January - Ten people have been killed in a shootout with an anti-terror squad during a raid on a fighters’ stronghold on Sulawesi island in central Indonesia, local police say.

Security forces arrested 18 other alleged Islamic fighters in the Gebangrejo area and seized a large haul of bombs and weapons after the three-hour gun battle on Monday.

The shootings in Poso left up to nine suspected fighters and one policeman dead. (Picture : Several raids have been carried out against Muslim fighters' hideouts in Sulawesi)

Security forces have recently conducted several operations against Muslim fighters in Sulawesi.

Brigadier-General Badrodin Haiti, Central Sulawesi's police chief, said police had acted in self-defence.

He said the squad would not have attacked the suspected fighters if they had not opened fire first.

"I don't want to speculate whether they were members of Jemaah Islamiyah.

"But they are part of a dangerous, armed group that has caused unrest among the people,'' he said.

Police have been hunting for people on a wanted list of 29 suspected of involvement in a series of attacks in Poso district.

Ten have already surrendered, been arrested or killed. Isno Adi Winoto, a spokesman for the national police, said the police would continue to hunt down the suspects and their supporters.

Jemaah Islamiyah has been blamed for at least four attacks in recent years, the most deadly being the 2002 suicide bombings on Bali island that killed 202 people, many of them foreign tourists.

The government has since arrested hundreds of suspects and several others have been killed, including a man shot by Poso police on January 11 said to be a senior Jemaah Islamiyah member.

Labels: Berita, Indonesia, Luar Negeri, Ummah