The injured soldiers are identified as Master Sergeant Dian Hardiana, Master Private Kuku Ismail, 2nd Sergeant Sukrisdianto, and 1st Private Romi.
"They all have been evacuated and are hospitalized at the Marthen Indey Hospital, Commander of the 172/Praja Wira Yakhti District Military Command Brig. Gen. Izak Pangemanan stated.
The four soldiers sustained leg injuries during a gunfight with armed Papuan terrorists, who ambushed them while they were examining their car's engine in Yapimakot Village, Serambakon Sub-district, Pegunungan Bintang District, Papua Province, on Tuesday.
"The armed attackers likely belong to the Lamek Taplo-led group," Pangemanan noted in a statement that ANTARA quoted in Jayapura, the capital of Papua Province, on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, 12 soldiers went to Oksibil, the capital of Pegunungan Bintang District, for shopping. On their way back to Serambakon Sub-district, their car's engine suddenly malfunctioned while passing through a wooden bridge of Yapimakot Village.
While checking the car's engine, the soldiers were suddenly attacked by the Papuan separatists. A gunfight broke out in which four soldiers suffered leg injuries, he remarked.
Over the course of the past five months, Papua has borne the brunt of a string of violent attacks by armed separatist terrorist groups targeting security personnel and innocent civilians in districts, such as Puncak, Intan Jaya, Yahukimo, and Pegunungan Bintang.
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.
This week, apart from attacking 12 soldiers in Pegunungan Bintang District, the armed Papuan terrorists also brutally killed two army personnel in the Kali Brasa neighborhood, Dekai Sub-district, Yahukimo District.
The fallen heroes are identified as 2nd Private Ardi Yudi Ardianto and Master Private Alif. Both belong to Indonesia’s elite unit of Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad).
Related news: 4 TNI soldiers injured after Papua armed separatist group intercepts
Related news: SOP followed in crackdown on armed Papuan terrorists: police
EDITED BY INE
Translator: Evarukdijati, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
