JAKARTA. The government will consider pardoning the remaining members of the East Indonesia Mujahiddin (MIT) terrorist group if they surrender to security officers, an official said on Thursday.

"We will offer them a pardon once they leave their hideouts. They are Indonesian citizens after all," Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said on Thursday.

The government has taken a soft approach to put an end to MIT guerilla warfare in Central Sulawesi's mountainous forests, including through cultural and religious approaches, Luhut said, without disclosing further details about the pardon mechanism.

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He asserted, however, that if the 19 remaining members of the MIT decided to continue their attacks on security personnel in the region, the personnel would respond in kind.

The MIT, a militant group that pledged allegiance to global terrorist network Islamic State (IS) in 2013, just lost its leader Santoso, who was shot dead during an exchange of fire with security personnel on Monday. (Marguerite Afra Sapiie)