Indonesia increases patrols in Sumatra National Park after attacks on task force

The Tesso Nilo National Park, home to the critically endangered Sumatran elephant, has faced years of encroachment. - Reuters

JAKARTA: Indonesia has sent reinforcements to a National Park on Sumatra island after a forestry task force command post was destroyed in response to palm oil plantation seizures, the Forestry Ministry said on Tuesday (Nov 25).

President Prabowo Subianto's forestry task force, which includes military personnel and state prosecutors, has this year launched a crackdown on palm oil plantations they say have been running illegally in forest areas, an operation the palm oil industry says could disrupt global supplies.