Initial info from military stories mentioned there have been about 36 troopers at a submit within the hilly district of Nduga, when attackers from the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, opened fireplace on Saturday.
At least six died and 21 others fled into the jungle, in accordance with the navy stories seen by journalists. A navy spokesman confirmed just one useless. Nine troopers have been reportedly being held by the rebels.
Papua navy spokesperson Colonel Herman Taryaman mentioned the troopers have been a part of a gaggle that was looking for Phillip Mark Mehrtens, a New Zealand pilot for the Indonesian aviation firm Susi Air who was kidnapped by the rebels in February.
He mentioned authorities have been looking for about 30 troopers.
“It’s still unknown exactly how many Indonesian army troops died and were injured,” Taryaman mentioned.
“We are still searching, but heavy rain, foggy weather and a lack of communication have hampered our search and evacuation efforts.”
First Admiral Julius Widjojono, the spokesperson for the Indonesian National Armed Forces, or TNI, instructed a news convention within the capital, Jakarta, that the search operation can be carried out “with maximum force.”
He mentioned the rebels confronted troops after they tried to comb an space near the place of the pilot and his abductors.
The rebels shot a soldier who fell right into a 15-metre deep ravine, and launched a second assault whereas troops have been getting his physique out, Widjojono mentioned. He confirmed just one fatality to this point.
Rebel spokesperson Sebby Sambom mentioned in a press release that the group’s fighters carried out the assault in revenge for the killing of two rebels in a shootout with Indonesian safety forces final month. He mentioned at the very least 9 members of Indonesia’s elite military pressure have been killed in Saturday’s assault.
Sambom urged Indonesia’s authorities to cease its navy operations in Papua. He additionally mentioned his group had supplied to barter with each the Indonesian and New Zealand governments for the pilot they took hostage, however mentioned they’d not obtained a response.
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“Indonesia’s government must stop its security operation in Papua and be willing to negotiate with our leaders under the mediation of a neutral third party from a United Nations agency,” Sambom mentioned.
Widjojono mentioned the navy operations in Papua have been launched with a view to keep away from numerous casualties.
“TNI has never stepped back even once in maintaining our territorial sovereignty,” Widjojono mentioned. “And this is being implemented consistently in Papua.”
The rebels in February stormed a single-engine aircraft shortly after it landed on a small runway in Paro in distant Nduga district and kidnapped its pilot. The aircraft initially was scheduled to select up 15 development staff who had been constructing a well being centre after separatist rebels threatened to kill them.
Saturday’s combating is the most recent in a collection of violent incidents in recent times in Papua, a former Dutch colony within the western a part of New Guinea that’s ethnically and culturally distinct from a lot of Indonesia. Conflicts between indigenous Papuans and Indonesian safety forces are frequent.
Papua was included into Indonesia in 1969, after a UN-sponsored poll that was extensively seen as a sham. Since then, a low-level insurgency has simmered within the area, which is split into two provinces, Papua and West Papua.
Rebel assaults have spiked previously yr, with dozens of rebels, safety forces and civilians killed.
Source: www.9news.com.au
