It is true that since Friday night, Indonesian military and police personnel have taken control of Bilogai Airport following an armed criminal group’s occupation of the airport that led to the suspension of civil flights to the area.
Jayapura (ANTARA) - Indonesian security agencies have regained control of Bilogai Airport in Sugapa Sub-district, Intan Jaya District, Papua Province, after an armed criminal group occupied it.

“It is true that since Friday night, Indonesian military and police personnel have taken control of Bilogai Airport following an armed criminal group’s occupation of the airport that led to the suspension of civil flights to the area,” Director of the Special Criminal Investigation Department of Papua Province Senior Commissioner Police Faizal Rahmadani stated in Jayapura, Papua, on Saturday.

The airport is now safe for civil flights, as military and police personnel have been deployed around the airport, he noted.


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“The Papua Provincial Police will also station two platoons of personnel in Intan Jaya to reinforce security in the area," he stated.

Some local residents are taking refuge at a church and police precinct, he noted without elaborating on their exact number.


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Tendering a clarification on whether the armed criminal group had torched the airport’s air navigation office on Friday, Rahmadan, concurrently commander of Nemangkawi Law Enforcement Task Force, stated that the members had, in fact, set fire to a generator set house, kiosk, and two motor vehicles, including an ambulance.

Earlier, Commander of the Nabire District Military Command Lt. Col. Anjuanda Pardosi had reported a firefight between security personnel and armed criminal group members in Sugapa Sub-district. However, no injury or fatality was reported.


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Translator: Evarukdijati, Suharto
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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