Indonesian security forces today captured a top militant leader and killed another member of the same terrorist group, police said.

Muhammad Basri of the Eastern Indonesia Mujahideen was captured in the coastal town of Poso in Central Sulawesi province in a joint operation with the military, police spokesperson Boy Rafli Amar said.

“One of his men resisted arrest, so he was killed,” according to Amar.

Basri is believed to have succeeded as leader of the group after Santoso, the country’s most wanted Muslim terrorist, was killed in a gunfight with security forces in July.

“Basri’s arrest has further weakened the group, because he is a key leader,” national police chief Tito Karnavian was quoted as saying by Detik.com news website.

More than 2,500 soldiers and police have been deployed since January to hunt down Santoso’s group in Poso, which has been a militant hotbed for years.

Police say around a dozen other militants are still on the run in the area.

- dpa