Col (Inf) Irwan Kusnadi

Commander, combat Sector A (eastern sector)

Irwan Kusnadi took over the eastern combat sector on 21 June 1999. A list of Sector A subordinate officers is in the item on his predecessor, Col Sunarko. Kusnadi was therefore in charge as the scorched earth policy was being implemented in East Timor following the ballot. Sector A covered the districts of Baucau, Lautem, Viqueque and possibly Manatuto, and was in 1999 based in Baucau (at the airport).[1] 

In 1999 Kusnadi doubled up the command of combat sector A with Commander, 3^rd Airborne Infantry Brigade (Dan Brigif Linud). Although a Kostrad unit from Makassar, the brigade had rather close connections with Kopassus. This brigade had at least one battalion in East Timor: Battalion 432, commanded by Maj Eriet Hadi Uriyanto. He probably also controlled Battalions 401 (commanded by LtCol Sukoso) and 406 (LtCol Sonny Widjaja). These three battalions were among the last to leave, and must be suspected of having taken part in the deportation and destruction after the ballot.[2]

After the ballot, Irwan Kusnadi served with Col Gerhan Lentara (the Dili sector commander and another Kostrad Airborne Brigade Commander) under the martial law administrator MajGen Kiki Syahnakri.[3]

Background

Irwan Kusnadi commanded various Kostrad combat units in East Timor in the 1990s. In 1995 he was Commander of Battalion 432 (though another source has him as commander of Battalion 433, which with 432 was a part of the 3^rd Airborne Brigade, and which was involved in the Santa Cruz massacre of November 1991 and played a major role in East Timor for a long time).

After East Timor he and his 3^rd Brigade went to Ambon. In 2000, while commander of Ambon Sector A (Ambon city and surrounds) he retained the Airborne Infantry Brigade command. He was also Commander of the Kostrad Battalion 303.[4] He was shot in the head on 18 May 2000.[5] Many men from Battalion 303 were sent to Irian Jaya in November 2000 to 'maintain order and national unity'.[6] In 2001, apparently recovered, he became Border Security Task Force Commander in West Timor, with responsibility for the East Timor border. He oversaw three battalions of about 2000 soldiers.[7]

Extra Information Current Status: D - Dunn. The report of James Dunn, consultant to the Untaet Prosecutor General Mr Mohamed Othman, April 2001. See map of location This individual is also mentioned in these profiles: Col Gerhan Lentara LtCol Sukoso Col Sunarko MajGen Kiki Syahnakri Maj Eriet Hadi Uriyanto LtCol Sonny Widjaja LtCol Tatang Zaenuddin Lt Rahman Zulkarnaen