744 Infantry Battalion (Indonesia)

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744 Infantry
Battalion Batalyon Infanteri Raider Khusus 744 / Satya Yudha Bhakti

Lineup January 24, 1978
Country Indonesia
Armed forces Armed Forces of Indonesia
Armed forces Indonesian army
Branch of service infantry
Type Infantry battalion
Location Mayon Tofi, Desa Wedomu, Kecamatan Tasifeto Timur , Kabupaten Belu
Nickname Yonif 744
motto Satya Yudha Bhakti

The 744 Infantry Battalion ( Indonesian Batalyon Infanteri Raider Khusus 744 / Satya Yudha Bhakti or Yonif Raider Sus 744 / SYB ) is an Indonesian elite combat unit and one of the 39 offensive battalions of the Indonesian Army. The battalion was set up on January 24, 1978 in the then annexed East Timor (then Timor Timur as an Indonesian province ). One of the commanders of the battalion during the occupation was the future Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono .

backgrounds

As part of the 21st Infantry Brigade (Brigif 21 / Komodo) created in 2009, the battalion is subordinate to the regional military command (Kodam) IX / Udayana. When the 744 Infantry Battalion was created, it was stationed in the East Timorese city of Lospalos in the far east of Timor , and later in East Timor's capital Dili , in the district of Taibesi . After the loss of East Timor in 1999, the military district (Korem) 164 / Wiradharma was dissolved. The 744 infantry battalion remained and was transferred to the 161 / Wirasakti military district, whose headquarters are in Kupang at the western tip of Timor.

The battalion also found its new location in Kupang before it was relocated to Naibonat ( Ostkupang District ) and in 2005 to Atambua . Today is the 58-hectare headquarters in the Indonesian part of West Timor in Tofi (Desa Wedomu, Osttasifeto district , administrative district of Belu ), near the border with the independent state of East Timor.

The battalion included the special team Somodok ( tetum island pit viper ), which had a legendary reputation.

history

Like the 745 Infantry Battalion , the 744 Infantry Battalion was originally an Indonesian unit that recruited native East Timorese from among Indonesian officers. In 1975 Indonesia invaded East Timor and annexed it in 1976, which was not recognized internationally. Above all, the East Timorese party FRETILIN and its military arm, the FALINTIL , put up armed resistance, which was answered with severe reprisals against the civilian population. But although battalions 744 and 745 were the units with most of the East Timorese in the Indonesian army and were the only ones permanently stationed in East Timor, the local forces remained in the minority and were also not very reliable in their loyalty. An example here is the dissertation of the entire marching band of Battalion 744, which joined the FALINTIL fighters in Aileu in 1999 , who were barracked there in preparation for the peace treaty.

In 1978, 88 people died in Aculau in an attack on the village of Aisapu by infantry battalions 744 and 745, according to the families.

The successful ambush on December 31, 1978, in which the leader of the East Timorese resistance Nicolau Lobato was killed, is regarded as one of the battalion's greatest successes . He died in the course of a firefight with soldiers of the 744 Infantry Battalion, albeit according to stories by suicide in order to avoid capture. His body has disappeared to this day.

On June 10, 1980, East Timorese fighters of the FALINTIL attacked, among other things, the weapons depot of B Company of Infantry Battalion 744 in Becora in Dili. It was the first major attack since the resistance movement was almost completely destroyed in 1978. This was followed by retaliatory measures by the Indonesian military against the civilian population, in which the 744 Infantry Battalion participated. This also includes several murders.

In 1981, the 744 Infantry Battalion was involved in Operation Fence of Legs (Operation Kikis), which forced 60,000 East Timorese civilians to comb the island for the Indonesian military. Witnesses report that soldiers of the 744 Infantry Battalion murdered between 70 and 500 civilians at the end of the operation on Mount Aitana (depending on the information).

Also at Kraras Massacre in 1983, the shooting of East Timorese protesters at the Santa Cruz massacre on 12 November 1991 and other human rights violations soldiers involved from Infantry Battalion 744, respectively.

Commanders

  • Major M. Yunus Yosfiah (November 12, 1977 - April 19, 1979)
  • Major H. Abdul Rifai (July 16, 1979 - May 9, 1980)
  • Major Pande Made Latra (May 9, 1980 - October 1, 1981)
  • Major Ismanto R. (October 1, 1981 - July 1, 1982)
  • Major Sumarno (July 1, 1982 - May 1, 1983)
  • Major Bambang Supriadi (May 1, 1983 - May 1, 1984)
  • Major Anwir Sudarminto (May 1, 1984 - February 5, 1986)
  • Major Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (February 5, 1986 - April 7, 1988)
  • Lt. Col. MK Sirait (April 7, 1988 - June 29, 1989)
  • Major Syahril B. Peliung (June 29, 1989 - April 20, 1992)
  • Major Wibowo (April 20, 1992 - June 16, 1993)
  • Lt. Col. Soekotjo HS (June 16, 1993 - July 20, 1994)
  • Lt. Col. Agus Basuki (July 20, 1994 - March 11, 1995)
  • Major General TNI Adi Mulyono (March 11, 1995 - June 15, 1995)
  • Brigadier General TNI Endar Priyanto (June 15, 1995 - July 1, 1996)
  • Lt. Col. Akhmad Mas Agus (July 1, 1996 - August 1, 1998)
  • Major Yakraman Yagus, Pjs (August 1, 1998 - June 18, 2000)
  • Colonel Muchlis Henry C (June 18, 2000 - June 16, 2001)
  • Lieutenant Colonel Suparno (June 16, 2001 - January 3, 2003)
  • Colonel Yulius Wijayanto (January 3, 2003 - March 1, 2005)
  • Lieutenant Colonel Ferdinandus Ginting (March 1, 2005 - 2007)
  • Lieutenant Colonel Yunianto (2007-2010)
  • Lt. Col. Asep Nurdin (2010-11 May 2011)
  • Colonel Andree Saputro, SE (May 11, 2011 - July 6, 2013)
  • Lieutenant Colonel Teddy Arifiyanto Setia Miharja.S.IP (July 6, 2013 - May 7, 2014)
  • Lt. Col. Yudhi Gumilar, S.Pd (May 7, 2014 - March 5, 2016)
  • Lt. Col. Parada Warta Nusantara Tampubolon, SH (March 5, 2016 - December 11, 2016)
  • Major Samsul Huda, SE (from December 11, 2016)
  • Major Bima Santosa

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jakarta Post: TNI formally closes Dili military district command , March 31, 2000 , accessed April 28, 2019.
  2. ↑ Avet Tewelde Weldemichael: Third World Colonialism and Strategies of Liberation: Eritrea and East Timor Compared. Cambridge University Press, 2013, limited preview in Google Book search.
  3. ↑ Joseph Nevins: A Not-so-distant Horror: Mass Violence in East Timor. Cornell University Press, 2005, limited preview in Google Book Search.
  4. ↑ “Chapter 7.2 Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances”, Civilians killed in retaliation for Falintil attacks p. 64 (PDF; 2.5 MB) from the “Chega!” Report of the CAVR (English).
  5. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald: Bones gathering dust in NT may be of Timorese hero , December 28, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Part 3: The History of the Conflict", The Lacluta Massacre p. 92 (PDF; 1.4 MB) from the "Chega!" Report of the CAVR (English)
  7. ↑ "Chapter 7.2 Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances", Killings and disappearances after the Resistance attacks in Dili on 10 June 1980 , pp. 149 ff.
  8. ↑ "Chapter 7.2 Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances", September 1981: Executions at Aitana during the Fence of Legs Operation , pp. 160 ff.
  9. ↑ “Chapter 7.2 Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances”, August-October 1983: Killings in Viqueque after the Kraras incident , pp. 168 ff.
  10. ↑ "Chapter 7.2 Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances", Santa Cruz Massacre (November 1991) , pp. 199 ff.