First Constable Bachtiar survived the shooting though he sustained a gunshot injury on the left side of his shoulder blade, Pegunungan Bintang Police Chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Cahyo Sukarnito revealed.
The wounded Mobile Brigade member is in a stable condition, he noted.
ANTARA has reported that Operation Nemangkawi was launched in 2019 following the massacre of 31 workers of PT Istaka Karya in Kali Yigi and Kali Aurak in Yigi Sub-district, Nduga District, on December 2, 2018.
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Papuan separatist terrorists, who were believed to be behind the brutal killings of the Trans Papua construction workers, also killed a soldier, identified as Handoko, and injured two other security personnel, Sugeng and Wahyu, according to reports.
Papua has borne witness to a repeated cycle of violence, with armed groups in the districts of Intan Jaya, Nduga, and Puncak targeting civilians and security personnel over the past few years.
Intan Jaya recorded its bloodiest month in September 2020, with armed groups launching a series of attacks in the area that claimed the lives of two soldiers and two civilians and left two others injured.
The acts of terror have continued in 2021. On January 10, 2021, for instance, an Indonesian soldier died in a gunfight in the Titigi area of Intan Jaya District.
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On April 25, 2021, Papuan separatists, operating in Beoga, ambushed State Intelligence Agency (Papua) Chief I Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha and several security personnel during their visit to Dambet Village.
Nugraha died of gunshot wounds sustained in the attack.
The National Police has extended the Nemangkawi Task Force's operational period till January 25, 2022, following the end of the second phase of its operations on December 31, 2021.
According to the National Police's spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ahmad Ramadhan, the decision was made based on the outcome of an analysis and evaluation conducted by the National Police and Indonesian Military (TNI) before the task force's operational period ended in December 2021.
The police will make the most of the extended period to make requisite preparations to continue its territorial operation under the command of Papua Police, Ramadhan noted recently.
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Translator: Evarukdijati, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
