TNI Prepares 22,893 Soldiers To Help Security Christmas And New Year

JAKARTA - TNI Commander General Agus Subiyant prepared a total of 22,893 soldiers from three dimensions to help the Police maintain security and maintain order during the 2023 Christmas and 2024 New Year celebrations.

Agus during the 2023 Candle Operations Cross-Sectoral Coordination Meeting in the context of Christmas 2023 and New Year 2024 Security conveyed the involvement of the TNI in the operation to secure Christmas and New Year to assist the Police.

Therefore, the soldiers who are alerted along with their placement will be adjusted to the request from the Police.

Of that number, the Indonesian Army alerted 15,050 soldiers or 43 units at the battalion level, then the Indonesian Navy alerted 14 units at the battalion level as many as 4,900 soldiers. Soldiers from the marine dimension will later be assigned to guard the main areas of the port.

Then, the Indonesian Air Force prepared 49 air bases and alerted 17 units at the company level and 32 units at the platoon level, a total of 2,943 personnel. Air dimension soldiers are alerted to assist the Police for security at airports, both international and non-international airports.

The Commander explained that according to the Police's request, TNI soldiers would later be deployed to assist security at churches, airports, train stations, terminals, integrated posts, security posts, area rest areas, shopping centers, ports and tourist attractions.

Then, several main weapons systems (defense equipment) that were alerted, namely helicopters, ships, and aircraft, including to assist sea and air transportation, then to evacuate the air if necessary for emergency situations.

In the meeting, chaired by the National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, the results of a survey by the Ministry of Transportation were presented, which predicted that 107.63 million people would travel during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

This figure is up 153 percent when compared to the number in 2022. One of these increases is influenced by school holidays which take place from December 20, 2023 to January 3, 2024 or at the same time as the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Therefore, the National Police Chief, the Commander, and meeting participants agreed on the need to be aware of crowds in several locations, including entertainment venues and tourist destinations. Not only that, the Christmas and New Year holidays also coincide with the 2024 presidential election campaign period so that social conflicts between mass supporters of presidential and vice presidential pairs may occur.

The National Police Chief, in the meeting, conveyed the security of Christmas Day 2023 and New Year 2024 using the 2023 Candle Operation code.

Listyo explained that Operation Lilin 2023 involved 127,843 personnel, consisting of a combination of 82,432 TNI and police soldiers, and 45,411 joint personnel from other agencies.

The National Police Chief conveyed that Operation Candle 2023 will take place on December 22, 2023 and will end in January 2024. Pre-operational training is scheduled to take place on December 18, 2023, security simulations (TFG) on December 20, 2023, and finally the troop deployment on December 21, 2023.