Wednesday, April 28, 2021

1) Indonesian police: Clash in Papua killed 5 rebels, 1 police


2) Flight services restarted at Aminggaru Airport in Papua's Ilaga 
3) Five dead after joint military-police team raids armed criminals' HQ  
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1) Indonesian police: Clash in Papua killed 5 rebels, 1 police
By ALFIAN KARTONO today 

JAYAPURA, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian police officer and five Papuan independence fighters were killed in an ongoing clash between security forces and a rebel group in restive Papua province, authorities said Wednesday.  

The clashes began early this month in Indonesia’s easternmost Papua province after rebels set fire to several schools and shot to death two teachers in Beoga village in Puncak district.  

Police, military and intelligence forces joined together to find the attackers, who authorities believe belong to the West Papua Liberation Army, the military wing of the Free Papua Organization.  

Rebels in Papua have been fighting a low-level insurgency since the early 1960s, when Indonesia annexed the region, a former Dutch colony. Papua was formally incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a U.N.-sponsored ballot that was seen as a sham by many.  

Papua police chief Mathius Fakhiri said a joint military and police force killed five of the Papuan fighters in a battle with dozens of rebels armed with military-grade weapons as well as axes and arrows in Makki village Tuesday. He said a police officer was shot at his stomach and died while two others were injured.


Security forces managed to evacuate the body and injured officers to a hospital in nearby Mimika district near the mining town of Tembagapura on Tuesday while the joint force was hunting other rebels who fled to the jungle, Fakhiri said.  

Sebby Sambom, a spokesman for the liberation army, who was earlier confirmed the police claim, changed his statement after receiving latest information from a National Liberation Army of West Papua commander, Lekagak Telenggen, who told him that all five victims who died during the clash were civilians.  “There are no casualties on our side, this is all public deception,” Sambon said. “Indonesian security forces have stormed several villages in Puncak district and shot villagers, many died and injured.”  

Tuesday’s clash happened two days after Papua’s intelligence agency chief Brig. Gen. Gusti Putu Danny Nugraha was shot in his head and died in a rebel ambush. The ambush occurred while the general was patrolling Dambet village in Puncak district with 13 other personnel on motorcycle after rebels set fire to an elementary school and houses in the village. 

 President Joko Widodo has ordered government forces to hunt down the rebels.  “I emphasize that there is no place for armed criminal groups in Papua and in all corners of the country,” Widodo said in televised remarks on Monday.  Attacks by rebels in several districts in Papua have spiked in the past year, including in the Grasberg mine.  

The Grasberg mine’s vast gold and copper reserves have been exploited for decades by U.S.-based Freeport-McMoRan, damaging the surrounding environment while providing significant tax income for the Indonesian government.  But indigenous Papuans have benefited little and are poorer, sicker and more likely to die young than people elsewhere in Indonesia.  ____ 
 Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to the report.

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2) Flight services restarted at Aminggaru Airport in Papua's Ilaga 
 1 hour ago

Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) - The Aminggaru Airport authority in Ilaga, Puncak District, Papua Province, has fully recommenced flight services on Wednesday, as security personnel continue their crackdown on armed Papuan separatist terrorists.

Three airlines have, so far, notified their readiness to operate on Wednesday, Head of the Ilaga Airport Operator Herman Sujito told ANTARA on being contacted from Jayapura, the capital of Papua Province.

Sam Air, Smart Air, and Rimbun Air restarted their flight operations, though until 07:30 a.m. local time, none of the airplanes had landed at the Aminggaru Airport, Sujito stated.

On Tuesday, the airport authority had offered limited services to civilian aircraft to fulfill the request of security agencies that had continued to launch law enforcement operations against the armed separatist terrorists, he remarked.

The Aminggaru Airport serves some 50 takeoffs and landings daily, Sujito pointed out.

Following the death of Indonesia's top agent in an ambush on April 25, 2021, the security personnel raided an armed Papuan separatist terrorist group's headquarters in Makki Village, Ilaga Sub-district, on Monday and Tuesday.

In the gunfights, five rebels got killed, while a member of the Nemangkawi Task Force, a joint team of the Indonesian military and police, died on duty.

Over the course of these past four months, Papua has borne the brunt of a string of violent attacks by armed separatist terrorist groups targeting innocent civilians in districts, such as Puncak and Intan Jaya.

The armed groups often employ hit-and-run tactics against Indonesian security personnel while unleashing acts of terror against civilians to trigger fear among people.

Ojek drivers, teachers, students, and street food vendors, among others, have fallen victims to their terror acts. They also attacked civilian aircraft.

In the evening of April 11, 2021, several armed Papuan separatist terrorists torched a parked PT Ersa Air helicopter awaiting repair at the Ilaga Airport in Puncak District.

Consequently, the outer hull of the helicopter caught fire. The ill-fated helicopter was parked at the airport since March 31, 2021, whilst awaiting the arrival of necessary spare parts to solve its engine problem.

On January 6, 2021, some 10 armed Papuans had also vandalized and torched a Quest Kodiak aircraft belonging to the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) at the Pagamba village airstrip.

The armed men, led by Sabinus Waker, reportedly set the utility aircraft ablaze shortly after its American pilot Alek Luferchek disembarked two passengers. 
Related news: President orders military, police to hunt down all armed Papuan groups

Related news: President Widodo grieves over agent's death in Papua gunfight


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EDITED BY INE

Reporter: Evarukdijati, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf

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3) Five dead after joint military-police team raids armed criminals' HQ  
1 hour ago
Jakarta (ANTARA) - An Indonesian police mobile brigade officer and Lumawi armed criminal group’s (KKB’s) five members were killed after a joint military and police Nemangkawi Operation Task Force raided their headquarters in Olenski, Ilaga Puncak, Papua.

They were killed during shootouts that occurred on Monday (April 26) and Tuesday (April 27) at Makki Village, Senior Commissioner M. Iqbal Al Qudussy, spokesman of the Nemangkawi Task Force, stated here on late Tuesday.

"Information was obtained that the five KKB members, shot dead by the Nemangkawi Task Force, belonged to the Lekagak Telenggen group," he remarked.

On April 25, 2021, the criminal group, led by Lekagak Telenggen, shot Brigadier General Putu Danny, chief of the State Intelligence Agency’s (BIN's) Papua office in Dambet Village, Beoga Sub-district, Puncak District.

The KKB had earlier also shot teachers and a student to death, extorted village funds, burnt down school facilities, teachers' homes, and the local tribal chief's home, as well as raped village girls.

Lekagak Teleggen is a fugitive placed on the Papua Police's wanted list (DPO) since August 28, 2020, over illegal SS1 weapon possession and shooting at Mile 61 between Arwanop and Tsinga.

The task force raided the armed group's headquarters on Monday (Apr 26) at around 8 a.m. local time in Olenski.

The task force is still pursuing criminal group members that have committed criminal acts in the last few weeks.

"There is no place for armed criminal groups in Papua or in all corners of the country," he stated.

Related news: Armed criminals torch homes of Papua tribal chief and teachers
Related news: Another teacher in Papua's Beoga killed in criminal group's shooting
Related news: Agent's death not retreat fight against armed terrorists in Papua: BIN

Reporter: Laily R, Fardah
Editor: Sri Haryati


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