Currently, Mimika's areas, including the Tembagapura Sub-district, remain relatively secureTimika, Papua (ANTARA) - Mimika police have continued their prevention and containment efforts to maintain peace and security in the district's areas sharing land border with Puncak District where several armed terrorist groups operate, a police officer stated.
"Currently, Mimika's areas, including the Tembagapura Sub-district, remain relatively secure," Mimika Police Chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner IGG Era Adhinata noted in a statement quoted by ANTARA in Timika, the capital of Mimika District, on Tuesday.
Apart from maintaining a conducive situation, the Mimika police have continued to take precautionary measures to stem the infiltration of notorious armed Papuan terrorists as several factions of the Lekagak Telenggen-led armed separatist group had conducted similar actions in 2017, 2018, and 2020, Adhinata remarked.
To this end, several police stations in Mimika District in charge of areas near Puncak District are on alert, including the police precincts of Tembagapura, Jila, and Agimuga, he noted.
Tembagapura Sub-district, which is the hub of gold and copper mining sites of PT Freeport Indonesia, remains susceptible to security disturbances by armed terrorists as was earlier conducted by the factions of the Lekagak Telenggen-led armed group, Adhinata stated.
Last year, armed Papuan separatists had killed New Zealander Graeme Thomas Wall, who worked for PT Freeport Indonesia, Adhinata pointed out.
According to ANTARA, Wall was fatally shot by members of an armed Papuan group in Kuala Kencana, Timika, Mimika District, on March 30, 2020.
One of the perpetrators, Tandi Kogoya, a battalion commander of the armed Papuan terrorist groups operating in Intan Jaya District, was killed during a raid in Iwaka on April 9, 2020.
The police also detained another suspect, identified as TW, over his alleged involvement in the fatal shooting at the gold mining company's office that resulted in the New Zealander's death.
Over the course of the past four months, Papua has borne the brunt of a string of violent attacks by armed separatist terrorist groups targeting innocent civilians in districts, such as Puncak and Intan Jaya.
The armed groups often employ hit-and-run tactics against Indonesian security personnel while unleashing acts of terror against civilians to trigger fear among the people.
Ojek drivers, teachers, students, and street food vendors, among others, have fallen victims to their terror acts. Civilian aircraft too have been the targets of such attacks.
On the evening of April 11, 2021, several armed Papuan separatist terrorists set ablaze a parked PT Ersa Air helicopter awaiting repair at the Ilaga Airport in Puncak District.
Consequently, the outer hull of the helicopter caught fire. The ill-fated helicopter was parked at the airport since March 31, 2021, whilst awaiting the arrival of necessary spare parts to solve its engine problem.
On January 6, 2021, some 10 armed Papuans had also vandalized and torched a Quest Kodiak aircraft belonging to the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) at the Pagamba village airstrip.
The armed men, led by Sabinus Waker, reportedly set the utility aircraft ablaze shortly after its American pilot Alek Luferchek disembarked two passengers.
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Translator: E.Supar, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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