Military Personnel Deployed to Battle Riau Forest Fire
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Kamis, 27 Juni 2013 19:15 WIB
An aerial view of burning lands in Palalawan district in Riau province, Indonesia. REUTERS/Fikih Nauli
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) Chief Adm. Agus Suhartono has deployed almost 1,400 military personnel to help put out the raging forest fires in Riau province.
Agus said the military personnel deployed to Riau include a joint task force consisting of 400 members of the special armed forces (Kopassus), 400 marines, and 600 members of the army’s strategic reserves command (Kostrad). Agus hopes that his men will be able to help put out the forest fires immediately.
As previously reported, forest fires have blazed peat lands in Sumatra and Kalimantan causing hazardous smog to engulf the areas, as well as Singapore and Malaysia. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono released a statement of apology to these neighboring countries. The government is currently still focused on trying to put out the fires in these regions.