Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) - Airline company PT Trigana Air Service resumed flights on the Sentani-Dekai route on Tuesday (February 20) following the Wings Air plane shooting incident that occurred on February 17.

"Our Boeing 737-500 jet again serves the Sentani-Dekai route after the Trigana Air Service management in Jakarta has given the green light," the airline company's deputy area manager, Irwan Rochendi, stated.

Trigana resumed its Sentani-Dekai flight service after getting security guarantees from the authorities in Dekai Sub-district, Yahukimo District, Papua Pegunungan Province, he revealed.

During its 30-minute flight to Dekai's Nop Goliath Airport on Tuesday, the Trigana aircraft carried 120 passengers, he told ANTARA in Jayapura, the capital of Papua Province.

"We hope there will be no more shooting at civil aircraft in Dekai," he added.

On Saturday, February 17, 2024, members of an armed Papuan group shot at an aircraft of Wings Air, a member of the Lion Air group. All people aboard the plane survived the incident that occurred at Nop Goliath Airport.

ANTARA reported earlier that the Indonesian police and military personnel were tracking down the armed attackers.

According to Papua Police Chief Insp. Gen. Mathius Fakhiri, a bullet penetrated the aircraft's left fuselage, and its splinter hit the neck of a passenger sitting in seat row 19A.

As a result, he suffered a minor injury. The aircraft carrying 36 passengers was shot at about 1:20 p.m. local time while approaching the airport's runway for landing, he stated.

Fakhiri, however, said he had yet to receive reports on the armed group that was responsible for the assault on the passenger aircraft that flew from Sentani Airport in Jayapura District to Yahukimo District.

Over the past few years, armed Papuan groups have often employed hit-and-run tactics against Indonesian security personnel and mounted acts of terror against civilians in the districts of Intan Jaya, Nduga, and Puncak to stoke fear among the people.

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Translator: Evarukdijati, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Anton Santoso
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