Armed group member killed in gunfight near airport runway
Armed group member killed
Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) – A suspected member of an armed Papuan group was killed in a gunfight with Indonesian military and police personnel near the runway of Ilaga Airport in Puncak District, Papua Province on Friday.
Chief of the public relations division of the Papua Provincial Police, Senior Commissioner Ahmad Kamal, confirmed the gun battle and said it lasted for two and a half hours.
“The gunfight began when armed criminal group members opened fire at Air Force’s Special Force (Paskhas) officers assigned at the Ilaga Airport,” he informed.
Upon receiving the news, personnel from the Puncak police precinct and the Indonesian Army rushed to assist the Paskhas officers, he said.
Citing a report from the Puncak police precinct, Kamal said five armed rebels were involved in the gunfight.
He said the identity of the slain member of the armed group remained unknown.
“We are still awaiting a report from the Puncak police precinct,” he informed.
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Source of Armed group member killed news: ANTARA NEWS
Notes:
Located on the western half of the island of New Guinea and long racked by a simmering violent separatist insurgency, Papua encompasses Indonesia’s two easternmost provinces.
A former Dutch colony, West Papua was formally incorporated into Indonesia in 1969, after an undisputed vote of about 1,025 representative tribal leaders. The result of the plebiscite was overseen and endorsed by the United Nations.
Since the democratization in 1998, especially since 2007, democracy by mean of elections has been introduced to increase political participation in Papua and West Papua. The fact that the leaders of Papua and West Papua provinces are democratically elected by the people has strengthened the legality of West Papua as a province of Indonesia.
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This Blog has gone through many obstacles and attacks from violent Free West Papua separatist supporters and ultra nationalist Indonesian since 2007. However, it has remained throughout a time devouring thoughts of how to bring peace to Papua and West Papua provinces of Indonesia.
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