Indonesia deploys 1,500 troops and six helicopters to fight Borneo wildfires

Emergency military mobilization

Indonesia deployed 1,500 additional soldiers to Borneo on Saturday to combat wildfires that have spread across the island and generated thick smoke over residential areas. The troops, organized into three battalions of the Indonesian National Armed Forces, are being brought in from outside Kalimantan to bolster local containment teams on the ground. Alongside the infantry units, six helicopters were dispatched to expand aerial waterbombing operations across burning peatlands and forests. The deployment follows a direct order from President Prabowo Subianto, who traveled to Palangkaraya, the provincial capital of Central Kalimantan, to lead response coordination meetings. Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya confirmed the mobilization in an official government statement on Saturday.

An additional three Indonesia National Armed Forces battalions, or around 1,500 personnel, will be brought in from outside Kalimantan starting today.

Scale of the 2026 fire season

Official government figures indicate that fires between January and July burned more than 200,000 hectares (495,000 acres) of land nationwide. That scorched area represents roughly three times the territorial size of the national capital, Jakarta. The burn total has already surpassed the areas recorded during previous El Niño seasons in 2019 and 2023, though it remains below the footprint of the intense 2015 El Niño. Dry conditions across the archipelago have intensified under the influence of the El Niño weather pattern, which alters global wind and rainfall distributions to create severe drought in Indonesia.

Government containment efforts

During his visit to Palangkaraya, President Prabowo met with regional authorities to evaluate firefighting operations and allocate national resources. The president stated that the government is monitoring the situation closely while mobilizing additional personnel to contain the blazes. He stated that the immediate operational objective is preventing fire spots from spreading deeper into untouched rainforests and agricultural land. Indonesian authorities have coordinated ground units and aerial assets to suppress active blazes before drought conditions worsen.

We're taking mitigation measures. The important thing is to immediately stop the spread of fire spots.

Regional smog and cross-border impact

Dense smoke generated by the fires has degraded air quality across Borneo, an island shared by Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. Municipal authorities in affected Indonesian regions advised local populations to stay indoors and wear protective face masks to limit smoke inhalation. The haze has also crossed international boundaries into Malaysian Borneo, where six districts in the state of Sarawak registered air quality at unhealthy levels. Kalimantan contains extensive tracts of pristine rainforest and commercial plantations that remain vulnerable to fire during prolonged dry spells. Climate factors linked to El Niño continue to drive dry conditions, while warmer oceanic and atmospheric temperatures make extreme weather patterns more volatile.