TNI Chief Admiral Agus Suhartono said here on Thursday the unit conducting the hunt was from a local command in Puncak Jaya.
"(It) comes from our regional command there. So, it is our local men who conduct the hunt and that is indeed the procedure," he said.
Admiral Agus confirmed that one soldier had died in the incident, namely First Class Private Fana S Hadi.
"Our MI-17 helicopter was shot at when it was evacuating Private Fana S Hadi who was wounded in a previous gunfight in Puncak Jaya district, and one of the three bullets aimed at the helicopter hit him fatally," he said.
He said he could not confirm that the gunmen were from the separatist OPM group because there were several armed groups operating separately there.
"We cannot immediately link it to OPM because there are many groups in Papua that operate separately and so we cannot immediately jump to that conclusion," he said.
Agus however said he could assure that the perpetrators were not from the group that was involved in the shootings in Abepura on August 1.
"They are from a different group," he said.
He said TNI would not reinforce its forces in Papua just because of recent violent incidents in the region.
"In Papua the conditions are like that. It is a common incident," he said.
He said he suspected the group that shot the army helicopter only wished to draw attention and did not have a specific demand.
The TNI commander said armed groups in Papua often stole weapons from TNI members.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
