The funeral procession is planned to take place at the Cikutra Heroes' Cemetery on Sunday morningBandung, W Java (ANTARA) - The coffin of Private Roy Vebrianto who died of a gunshot wound following a gunfight with several armed Papuan criminals on Friday, arrived at the mourning house in Baleendah Subdistrict, Bandung District, West Java, on Saturday evening.
The fallen soldier's coffin was transported by a military ambulance to the mourning house, located in Bumi Sari Indah I residence, to be buried at the Cikutra Heroes' Cemetery on Sunday morning.
"The funeral procession is planned to take place at the Cikutra Heroes' Cemetery on Sunday morning," said Kuspriadi (53), the fallen soldier's father.
Private Roy Vebrianto, a member of the Indonesian military's Yonif 400/BR, suffered a gunshot wound to the right side of his chest in the gunfight that broke out in Titigi area of Sugapa Subdistrict, Intan Jaya District, on Friday morning.
He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Mitra Masyarakat Hospital in Timika, the capital of Mimika District, after being evacuated by a helicopter.
The Indonesian province of Papua has recurrently borne witness to a vicious cycle of violence, with armed Papuan criminal groups in the districts of Intan Jaya and Nduga targeting civilians and security personnel over the past few months.
On January 10, 2021, an Indonesian soldier also died in a gunfight that erupted in the Titigi area of Intan Jaya District.
"The gunfight broke out at around 11:40 a.m. local time. Our fallen soldier was shot on his back," Commander of the 173 PVB Military Resort Command Brig. Gen. Iwan Setiawan told ANTARA on being contacted from Jayapura on January 10.
The body of the fallen soldier, identified as Private Agus Kurniawan, was retrieved by an Air Force helicopter to Timika, the capital of Mimika District, he remarked.
Kurniawan was posted at the Titigi military post, some five kilometers from Sugapa, the capital of Intan Jaya District. The Titigi area has a mountainous terrain, he noted.
Intan Jaya recorded its bloodiest month in September 2020, with notorious armed groups launching a series of attacks in the area that claimed the lives of two soldiers and two civilians and injured two others.
The armed Papuan criminals continue their acts of terror. On January 6, 2021, for instance, 10 armed Papuan criminals vandalized and torched a Mission Aviation Fellowship's (MAF's) Quest Kodiak aircraft at the Pagamba Village airstrip.
The notorious armed men, led by Sabinus Waker, set ablaze the utility aircraft, with registration number PK-MAX, not long after American Pilot Alek Luferchek disembarked his two passengers.
The torching of the civilian aircraft was a brutal act since MAF planes have, since decades, conducted a noble mission for the Papuan communities, Commander of the Cenderawasih Military Command Maj. Gen. Ignatius Yogo Triyono said.
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Translator: Bagus AR, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
