The soldiers belonged to the Indonesian Military's (TNI's) Habema Operations Command Task Force, chief of the Habema Operations Command, Brig. Gen. Lucky Avianto, said.
Speaking in Timika, the capital of Mimika district, Central Papua, on Tuesday, he said that the rice packets were cooked by the troops before they left their security post for the Indonesia-Papua New Guinea border patrol.
During previous border patrols, the soldiers had frequently met villagers who faced difficulty in finding rice.
Therefore, the task force personnel initiated the measure to provide those in need with rice packets. The villagers received them enthusiastically, he said.
Preparing and distributing the cooked rice packets was a part of the task force personnel's efforts to maintain harmony with locals, he added.
As reported earlier, Indonesian soldiers in Papua are required to multitask, as the government is working incessantly to bridge the gap in regional development between the Papua region and other provinces.
Hence, soldiers deployed in the area are required to be responsive in seeking solutions to problems and challenges faced by Papuan communities in their daily lives.
The soldiers are required to play the role of problem solvers for local communities while carrying out their central task of defending the country's territorial integrity and guarding the safety of all Indonesians.
The geopolitical and geostrategic positions of Papua, which shares land and sea borders with Papua New Guinea (PNG), are indubitably important for Indonesia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Over the past few years, soldiers stationed in the Papua region have been facing security threats posed by insurgents operating in several districts.
Amid these security-related challenges, the soldiers have continued to demonstrate their concern for local communities through community services.
Several personnel of the Indonesia-PNG Border Security Task Force, for instance, have assisted locals through community services, such as voluntary teaching, running a mobile library, and street clean-up programs.
Translator: Agustina EJ, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
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