Papua continues to use troops that have been stationed thereJakarta (ANTARA) - The National Defense Forces (TNI) Headquarters does not intend to dispatch additional troops to Papua Province after an exchange of fire with the armed criminal group on Tuesday (Dec 17) that killed its two soldiers.
Although another gunfight broke out, the TNI Headquarters will not step up the number of troops stationed in the easternmost Indonesian province, Chief of the TNI Information Center Major General Sisriadi clarified at the TNI Headquarters in Cilangkao, East Jakarta, on Friday.
"Papua continues to use troops that have been stationed there," he remarked.
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Two TNI soldiers -- identified as First Lieutenant Erizal Zuhry Sidabutar and Second Sergeant Rizky Ramadhan -- were killed after members of the armed criminal group in Intan Jaya District, Papua Province, attacked them on Tuesday, (Dec 17).
The bodies of the two soldiers were flown in to Jakarta and Medan, North Sumatra, respectively on Thursday (Dec 19) for burial. The body of First Lieutenant Erizal was flown to Kualanamu Airport in Medan soon after arriving at the Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Cengkarang, west of Jakarta.
In the meantime, the body of Second Sergeant Rizky Ramadhan was laid in state at the bereaved family's house shortly after it was brought to Jakarta. He would later be buried at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in South Jakarta on Friday.
Sisriadi stated that the two soldiers killed in the line of duty would receive posthumous ranks.
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Translator: Syaiful Hakim/Suharto
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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