This time, eight workers were gunned down by several armed Papuan separatist terrorists in Beoga Sub-district, Puncak District.
According to Papua Police spokesperson Sen. Coms. Ahmad Kamal, the workers were assaulted and killed while repairing a base transceiver station (BTS) tower of state-owned telecommunications operator Telkomsel.
The civilians slain in the attack were identified as B, R, BN, BT, J, E, S and PD, Kamal remarked, adding that another worker, only identified by his initials as NS, survived the deadly assault.
The Puncak district police has formed a team of investigators to probe the acts of terror that led to the deaths of those eight workers.
"The killers are members of an armed group, but what the group is remains under investigation," Kamal noted in Jayapura, the capital of Papua Province, on Thursday evening.
When the incident occurred, NS, a worker who survived the deadly shooting, was not with his colleagues at their camp for repairing the tower. NS found his workmates dead after returning to the camp, Kamal remarked.
After knowing about the tragic event, NS appealed for help through the BTS tower 3's closed-circuit television (CCTV).
According to Kamal, the bodies of the deceased were not yet retrieved on Thursday due to weather conditions on the ground.
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The case of murder of the Palaparing Timur Telematika (PTT) workers is not the first tragedy to have occurred in this eastern Indonesian province.
On August 22, 2021, two construction workers, identified as Rionaldo Ratu Roma and Dedi Imam Pamungkas, died in an attack by members of an armed separatist terrorist group operating in the Yahukimo district area.
The notorious armed Papuan terrorists launched the deadly attack on PT Indo Mulia Baru's construction workers engaged in erecting a bridge on Brazza River in Yahukimo District.
Personnel from Papua police's community development task force assisted 11 construction workers of PT Indo Mulia Baru to heal their trauma following the deaths of their two workmates in the terrorist attack.
In addition to the killings of eight PTT workers and two employees of PT Indo Mulia Baru, the most horrific attack on construction workers in Papua occurred on December 2, 2018.
On that day, a group of armed Papuan separatist terrorists brutally killed 31 workers from PT Istaka Karya, who were engaged in construction and building the Trans Papua project in Kali Yigi and Kali Aurak in Yigi Sub-District, Nduga District.
The armed rebels, who launched the brutal killings, also killed a soldier named Handoko and injured two other security personnel, Sugeng and Wahyu.
Papua has borne witness to a repeated cycle of violence over the past few years, with armed groups in the districts of Intan Jaya, Nduga, and Puncak targeting civilians and security personnel.
On March 3, 2022, or a day after the eight workers of PTT were gunned down, one soldier was injured in a gunfight that broke out after 15 Papuan separatist terrorists attacked the post of the Dambet sub-district Military Command (Koramil) in Puncak District.
Private Herianto got injured on his neck, under one ear, albeit was conscious while being evacuated to the Beoga health center, spokesperson for the XVII Cenderawasih Regional Military Command Colonel Aqsha Erlangga remarked.
The separatists ambushed Herianto and 11 other soldiers while they were conducting a routine patrol and repairing a water pipeline near the Koramil post in Dambet Village, Beoga Sub-district.
Erlangga noted that a gunfight broke out while adding that three of the 15 attackers reportedly heading to Ogamki Village had assault rifles.
On January 20, 2022, Second Sergeant Miskel Rumbiak lost his life in a deadly attack by armed Papuan separatist terrorists in Aifat Timur Sub-district, Maybrat District, West Papua Province.
Rumbiak was killed during an assault launched by several armed Papuans when he along with four other soldiers were building a bridge connecting the villages of Fan Khario and Kamat in the sub-district.
The attackers might belong to the Maybrat National Committee of West Papua (KNPB) that were responsible for the attack on the Kisor military post in South Aifat Sub-district on September 2, 2021, according to spokesperson of the XVIII/Kasuari Regional Military Command Colonel Hendra Pesireron.
"We suspect that the armed attackers belong to the KNPB-Maybrat Chapter that are still on the run after launching the September 2 attack," Pesireron added.
In the wee hours of September 2, 2021, several members of armed Papuan separatist terrorists ambushed many soldiers while they were asleep at the Kisor military post.
Four soldiers -- 2nd Sergeant Amrosius, Chief Private Dirham, First Private Zul Ansari, and First Lieutenant Dirman -- died in the attack, while two others had sustained serious injuries.
The acts of terror by armed Papuan separatist terrorist groups have indeed posed real threats to the lives of innocent civilians, including workers, and security personnel.
On April 25, 2021, State Intelligence Agency (Papua) Chief I Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha died of gunshot wounds during an ambush by Papuan separatists operating in Beoga Sub-district.
The acts of terror in the provinces of Papua and West Papua should be stopped, and justice should be served in a series of killings conducted by the notorious members of armed Papuan groups.
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Editor: Sri Haryati
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