from early January to Dec 28, 2019, a total of 23 shooting and criminal cases involving the armed Papuan groups had claimed the lives of 10 members of the Indonesian police and military as well as 10 civilians.
Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) - Several Indonesian soldiers engaged in a gunfight with an armed Papuan group's members in the Kaliasin area, Keerom District, Papua Province, on Monday, led to an Indonesian army soldier being killed, a military spokesman stated.

The fallen soldier from the Indonesia-Papua New Guinea (PNG) border security task force is identified as Second Sergeant Miftakfur, spokesman of the XVII Cenderawasih Regional Military Command Col. Eko Daryanto remarked.

The corpse of this fallen hero was moved to the Marthen Indey Hospital in Jayapura, Daryanto noted, adding that another army personnel also sustained injuries.

According to ANTARA, the Papuan armed separatists engaged in repeated fire exchanges with the Indonesian military and police personnel. The rebels also killed and launched deadly attacks on civilians over the past years.

The Papua Police recorded that from early January to Dec 28, 2019, a total of 23 shooting and criminal cases involving the armed Papuan groups had claimed the lives of 10 members of the Indonesian police and military as well as 10 civilians.

The armed Papuan criminals committed such criminal acts in the administrative areas of the districts of Puncak Jaya, Jayawijaya, Mimika, and Paniai in 2019, Papua Police Chief Inspector General Paulus Waterpauw remarked on Saturday (Dec 28).

Acknowledging this grim reality, Waterpauw's predecessor, Inspector General Rudolf A. Rodja, stated that security disturbances, fueled by the rebels, remain a tenacious challenge for Indonesia's security apparatuses in Papua.

In the first semester of 2019, at least 10 shooting incidents involving these armed separatists took place that resulted in seven lives being lost.

Five of the dead victims were soldiers, while two others were a policeman and civilian, Rodja had stated on July 3, 2019.

The shooting incidents occurring in the working areas of the Puncak Jaya and Jayawijaya Police Precincts during the January-June period this year had also led to six soldiers and two policemen suffering from gunshot wounds.

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On Nov 30, a group of Papuan gunmen had also opened fire at an escort car owned by PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) at around Mile 60 in Tembagapura Sub-district, Mimika District, Papua Province, but no casualties were reported in the incident.

The gunmen, who fired at PTFI's "Delta Zone" escort car might belong to an armed Papuan rebel group, led by Hengki Wamang, according to spokesman of the XVII/Cenderawasih Regional Military Command Colonel Eko Daryanto.

Even as the central and provincial governments make endeavors to persuade the rebels into putting a stop to their acts of violence and returning to their families to resume a normal life, the Free Papua Movement (OPM) has officially declared war against Indonesia.

The repercussions of this OPM's war declaration that its spokesman Jeffrey Bomanak made in Port Moresby, the capital city of Papua New Guinea (PNG), on Jan 31, 2019, has prolonged a circle of violence. Related news: Police, military hunt armed group on Indonesia-PNG border

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EDITED BY INE

Translator: Evarukdijati, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2019