Setam Same surrendered on Wednesday (April 24) and declared allegiance to the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, Joint Defense Regional Command (Kogabwilhan) III spokesman Colonel Gusti Nyoman Suriastawa stated.
Same was ill while surrendering to the army post, and a team of army medical personnel assisted him, Suriastawa remarked on Thursday.
Following his surrender, the army handed him over to the local police, as he had been on the police's most wanted list in connection with his alleged involvement in a deadly attack on the Kisor military post in 2021, he stated.
The assault carried out by 50 members of the Goliath Tabuni-armed group led to the deaths of four soldiers, he pointed out.
Over the past few years, armed Papuan groups have time and again 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 instill fear among the people.
The targets of such acts of terror have included construction workers, motorcycle taxi (ojek) drivers, teachers, students, street food vendors, and also civilian aircraft.
On December 2, 2018, a group of armed Papuan separatists brutally killed 31 workers from PT Istaka Karya that were engaged in the Trans Papua project in Kali Yigi and Kali Aurak in Yigi Sub-district, Nduga District.
On March 2, 2022, several members of an armed Papuan group operating in Beoga Sub-district, Puncak District, killed eight Palaparing Timur Telematika (PTT) workers who were repairing a base transceiver station (BTS) tower belonging to state-owned telecommunications operator Telkomsel.
On February 7, 2023, New Zealander pilot Phillip Mark Mehrtens was taken hostage by the Egianus Kogoya-led armed group. He was piloting an aircraft belonging to Indonesian airline Susi Air when he was captured by the armed group. Members of the group set his aircraft on fire shortly after it landed in Nduga District.
On October 16, 2023, Papuan separatists attacked several traditional gold miners in Yahukimo District, Papua Pegunungan Province, killing seven of them.
On November 25, 2023, four soldiers were killed in a gunfight with Papuan rebels in Paro Sub-district, Nduga District, Papua Province.
Thereafter, on January 19, 2024, a gunfight broke out between Indonesian security personnel and members of an armed separatist group operating in Intan Jaya District, Central Papua.
A Brimob ranger named Alfando Steve Karamoy sustained gunshot wounds in the gunfight. He succumbed to his injuries at Intan Jaya Public Hospital.
Karamoy was a National Police elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) ranger assigned to the Operation Peace Cartenz Task Force in Central Papua Province.
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Translator: Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Anton Santoso
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