Indonesia's military says 3 soldiers killed in Papua clash

ALFIAN KARTONO
Updated ·2 min read

JAYAPURA, Indonesia (AP) — Separatist gunmen opened fire on a military post Thursday in Indonesia’s restive easternmost province of Papua, killing three soldiers and critically wounding another, according to the the army and the rebels.

Attackers from the West Papua Liberation Army, the military wing of the Free Papua Organization, carried out the assault at dawn during a change of guard in the hilly district of Puncak, a stronghold of separatists who have battled Indonesian rule in the mineral-rich but impoverished region since the early 1960s.

Military spokesperson Col. Aqsha Erlangga said the gunmen fled into the jungle after soldiers returned fire. The rebels launched a second attack while troops were evacuating a wounded soldier who later died on the way to a clinic, he said.

Rebel spokesman Sebby Sambom in a statement sent to The Associated Press confirmed the group's fighters carried out the attack, which he said lasted over four hours. He said there were no deaths on the rebel side.

“This is part of our struggle for independence,” Sambom said. “Our leaders have called on all fighters in our 34 defense regions to continue the war throughout the land of Papua.”

The shootout is the latest in a series of violent incidents in recent years in Papua, a former Dutch colony in the western part of New Guinea that is ethnically and culturally distinct from much of Indonesia. Conflicts between indigenous Papuans and Indonesian security forces are common.

Papua was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969, after a U.N.-sponsored ballot that was widely seen as a sham. Since then, a low-level insurgency has simmered in the region, which is divided into two provinces, Papua and West Papua.

Rebel attacks have spiked in the past year, with dozens of rebels, security forces and civilians killed.

Data from authorities collected by AP showed at least 30 Indonesian troops were killed in clashes between rebels and security forces in in the past two years, including four this year alone.