Suspected separatist rebels shot and killed a motorcycle taxi driver in the Papua region of far-eastern Indonesia on Wednesday, police said, about the third fatal attack on a civilian in the past week.
The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), an insurgent group, could not be reached for comment, but its operations commander said a day earlier that it was responsible for last week’s killing of two of the civilians, who were teachers. The rebels claimed they were informants working for the government.
“We shot them dead. If you want war, face us. Don’t go after the people. We are responsible for the shootings,” Lekagak Telenggen, TPNPB’s general operations commander, told BenarNews.
The taxi driver, who was identified as 41-year-old Udin, was killed in Eromaga village in Puncak regency, said Papua police spokesman Ahmad Musthofa Kamal. Puncak police chief I Nyoman Punia confirmed Wednesday’s incident.
“When we arrived at the scene the taxi driver had died,” Nyoman told BenarNews.
The teachers slain last week were identified as Oktovianus Rayo, 42, and Yonathan Renden, 28, who taught at a local elementary school and junior high school, respectively.
“It is true that an armed separatist group has shot dead a teacher of the state junior high school.” Nyoman told the government-run Antara news agency last week, referring to Renden.
Fellow teachers witnessed Rayo’s shooting on April 8, Inspector General Mathius Fakhiri, Papua’s police chief, said last week.
Many government soldiers and police personnel disguise themselves as motorcycle taxi drivers, teachers and traders – especially in conflict areas such as Intan Jaya, Puncak and Nduga – Gusby Waker, the TPNPB operations commander in Intan Jaya regency, told BenarNews on Tuesday.
The teachers were killed because they were informants for government security forces, he said.
“They were spies for the TNI and Polri,” Waker told BenarNews, referring to the Indonesian military and police.
“We will kill Papuans and non-Papuans who are spies for the TNI and Polri.”
On Sunday, suspected rebels also set fire to a grounded helicopter parked at Aminggaru Airport in Ilaga. Unitrade Persada Nusantara, an air logistics company, operated the helicopter.
TPNPB was also behind the arson attack on the helicopter, said Telenggen, the rebels’ general operations commander.
The rebels had also claimed responsibility for the Jan. 6 arson attack on a plane belonging to the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), an American-Christian humanitarian organization that brings aid to rural Papuans. No one was injured in that attack.
The insurgent group had alleged that the aircraft had been used to transport government military and police personnel as well as supplies, but MAF representatives denied the claims.
Meanwhile, a Papuan education official told the Antara agency that an “armed criminal group” had set fire to a school in two separate incidents last week. The fire caused losses of 7.2 billion rupiah (U.S. $5 million) at the school, the official said.
Killings condemned
Papua Deputy Gov. Klemen Tinal called the killings of the teachers in Beoga “extremely barbaric.”
“There was no reason for them to kill teachers who have brought light,” Tinal said in a statement to reporters on Monday, urging security forces to arrest the killers.
Laurenzus Kadepa, a member of the Papuan legislative council, also condemned the killings.
“They must provide evidence for their accusations [that the victims were spies], not just speculation that could threaten the security of all humanitarian workers in Papua, and Puncak in particular,” Kadepa said Sunday.
In February, three men – who were related – were shot dead by security forces for allegedly attacking them at a community clinic in Intan Jaya. Locals and the TPNPB said they were civilians.
Since the start of the year, at least four soldiers, five civilians and four suspected rebels have been killed in Papua, according to a tally by BenarNews.
According to Amnesty International’s Indonesia office, at least 22 people were victims of unlawful killings in Papua in 2020.
Indonesian forces have been accused of committing human rights abuses in Papua.
In 1963, Indonesian forces invaded Papua and annexed it. In 1969, the region held a referendum in which security forces selected slightly more than 1,000 people to agree to Papua’s formal absorption into Indonesia, according to human rights advocacy groups.
The body of the 41-year-old motorcycle taxi driver, identified as Udin, was taken to the Ilaga public health service post (puskesmas), he said.
Local residents reported the shooting to the police, which later dispatched its personnel to the scene, he added.
It is believed Udin was shot on his right chest and the bullet reached his back after he dropped off his passenger, Fakhiri said. He also sustained gunshot wounds on his left cheek, he added.
No security disturbance was reported when the body was taken from the scene to the puskesmas, he said adding, a joint team of military and police personnel have been placed on standby in anticipation of another attack by the armed group.
The shooting is the latest in a series of attacks targeting civilians in Papua.
Several armed Papuan rebels shot dead two teachers and set ablaze junior and senior high school buildings in Beoga sub-district on April 8-9, 2021.
The violence prompted several local residents to flee their homes and seek refuge at a military post in the sub-district.
On February 9, 2021, six armed Papuans had fatally stabbed a motorcycle taxi (ojek) driver. (INE)
Related news: Military, police never retreat in chasing teachers' killers
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The blaze, which broke out in the market at 5:23 a.m. local time, destroyed the kiosks, thereby inflicting losses reaching several hundred million rupiah to the owners.
According to Jayapura Deputy Mayor Rustan Saru, the exact figure of material losses had yet to be calculated, while the city police continue to probe the cause of the fire.
The kiosks, ravaged by the fire, are located at the B 401-B 407 blocks where the traders there used to sell fruits, electronic items, clothing, and footwear.
Saru noted that the debris of the damaged and destroyed kiosks will be cleared on Saturday.
This is the second time that fire erupted in the Youtefa Market. On April 8, some 100 kiosks were destroyed by a blaze.
Related news: Fire ravages five houses in West Kalimantan
Related news: Jayapura's Youtefa market closed to contain COVID-19 outbreak
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"We appeal to the Papuan people to restrict travel to PNG due to the country's relatively high infection rate of the novel coronavirus disease," Sadikin said in Jayapura on Wednesday.
The COVID-19 strain in PNG is not expected to be vicious, but the government needs to remain vigilant because many Papuans live near the Indonesia-PNG land border area, the minister explained.
If the coronavirus strain infecting PNG residents is categorized as a "vicious" one, it would be more harmful to communities in the Indonesian province of Papua, he observed.
"As part of the government's preventive measures, we urge the Papua provincial government to cautiously monitor the movement of people in the border areas," he added.
Indonesia remains in grip of the global coronavirus pandemic that has severely affected its economy, and the government has rolled out a nationwide vaccination program to contain infections.
According to the Health Ministry, it will take about 15 months to vaccinate about 181.5 million people under the national program.
"We need 15 months to accomplish it. The time-frame for conducting the vaccination is counted from January, 2021 to March, 2022," Health Ministry's spokesperson for the vaccination program, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, stated recently.
During the period, the government is targeting to inoculate about 181.5 million people, including 1.3 million paramedics and 17.4 million public sector workers in 34 provinces, she informed.
Tarmizi noted that the first phase of the government's immunization program has been divided into two periods: January-April, 2021 and April, 2021-March, 2022.
The coronavirus pandemic has severely crippled the country's economy, particularly the tourism sector. To revive tourism, the Indonesian government is planning to implement a travel bubble with Singapore.
In the first stage of its implementation, the travel bubble will run between Singapore and Bintan, Riau Islands. (INE)
Related news: COVID-19 keeps posing serious threats to Papua: task force
Related news: Papua's police officers launch mask-wearing campaign in Jayapura City
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Reporter: Hendrina DK, Rahmad Nasution
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