The wounded rebel was rescued by his colleagues, who managed to escape from the gunfight to Nigilome Village, Commander of Joint Defense Regional Command (Kogabwilhan) III Lt Gen. Richard T. H. Tampubolon stated.
The separatists, who belong to the Kalenak Murib group, fled to the village through a riverbank, he remarked in Timika, the capital of Mimika District, Central Papua, on Wednesday.
The troops engaging in the shootout belong to the Indonesian Military's (TNI's) Habema Operations Command, he noted, adding that the shootout broke out when they attempted to expel the rebels from the Sinak market area.
The soldiers were aware of the rebels' presence in the market area after several panic-stricken residents fled the place and reported their presence to them, Tampubolon stated.
Several soldiers were then deployed to the market area and engaged in a gunfight with the rebels, who had often forced the residents to provide staple food stocks and money and would be tortured over non-compliance with their demands, he pointed out.
The shootouts between the Indonesian soldiers and armed Papuan rebels have continued to occur in Central Papua Province over the past two weeks.
At the end of May, the TNI troops hit back at three armed rebels who often terrorized residents of Bazemba Village in Sugapa Sub-district, Intan Jaya District.
Related news: Indonesian troops fight back three armed Papuan rebels in Intan Jaya
Over the past few years, armed rebel groups have often employed hit-and-run tactics against Indonesian security personnel and mounted acts of terror against civilians in the districts of Intan Jaya, Nduga, and Puncak to incite fear among the people.
The targets of such acts of terror have included construction workers, motorcycle taxi (ojek) drivers, teachers, students, street food vendors, and also civilian aircraft.
On December 2, 2018, an armed Papuan group brutally killed 31 workers from PT Istaka Karya engaged in the Trans Papua project in Kali Yigi and Kali Aurak in Yigi sub-district, Nduga District.
On March 2, 2022, several members of an armed Papuan group operating in Beoga Sub-district, Puncak District, killed eight Palaparing Timur Telematika (PTT) workers, who were repairing a base transceiver station (BTS) tower belonging to state-owned telecommunications operator Telkomsel.
On February 7, 2023, New Zealand pilot Phillip Mark Mehrtens was taken hostage by the Egianus Kogoya-led armed group. He was piloting an aircraft belonging to Indonesian airline Susi Air when he was captured by the armed group. Members of the group set his aircraft on fire shortly after it landed in Nduga District.
On October 16, 2023, Papuan separatists attacked several traditional gold miners in Yahukimo District, Papua Pegunungan Province, killing seven of them.
On November 25, 2023, four soldiers were killed in a gunfight with Papuan rebels in Paro Sub-district, Nduga District, Papua Province.
Thereafter, on January 19, 2024, a gunfight broke out between Indonesian security personnel and members of an armed group operating in Intan Jaya District, Central Papua.
A Brimob ranger named Alfando Steve Karamoy sustained gunshot wounds in the clash.
Thereafter, on April 10, 2024, the commandant of the 1703-04 Aradide Sub-district Military Command, Second Lieutenant Oktovianus Sogalrey, was shot dead by Papuan rebels in Paniai District, Central Papua.
Related news: Papua government hopes Pancasila values embedded in young people
Translator: Agustina, EJ, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
The soldiers who engaged in the gunfight belong to the Indonesian Defense Forces' (TNI) Habema Operations Command, Commander of the Joint Defense Regional Command (Kogabwilhan) III Lt. Gen. Richard T. H. Tampubolon remarked.
The shootout occurred after the Apeni Kobogau-led separatists opened fire on the troops who were heading to Bazemba to respond to the villagers' reports of the rebels' repeated acts of terrorism against them, he noted.
In the gunfight, the TNI personnel successfully forced the armed rebels to withdraw from Bazemba Village and to manage to escape to Wandoge Village, he noted in a press statement received here, Wednesday.
"The Apeni Kobogau-led separatists have repeatedly disrupted security in Bazemba Village by assaulting locals and robbing their staple food stocks and money," Tampubolon remarked.
Restoring peace and security in the villages of Bazemba and Wandoga has been part of TNI's endeavors to help drive the government's commitment to accelerating regional development in Papua, he affirmed.
Earlier, General Subiyanto had called the Free Papua Organization (OPM) by its given name and issued a letter directing the XVII/Cenderawasih Regional Military Command to use the term OPM from April 5.
The policy shift changed the decision made by the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs on April 29, 2021, to refer to armed criminal groups (KKB) as KST or separatist terrorist groups.
Over the past few years, the OPM's armed groups have often employed hit-and-run tactics against Indonesian security personnel and mounted acts of terror against civilians in the districts of Intan Jaya, Nduga, and Puncak to stoke fear among the people.
The targets of such acts of terror have included construction workers, motorcycle taxi (ojek) drivers, teachers, students, street food vendors, and also civilian aircraft.
Related news: Police, army deployed at Papua hospital after rebel threat: official
On December 2, 2018, an armed Papuan group brutally killed 31 workers from PT Istaka Karya engaged in the Trans Papua project in Kali Yigi and Kali Aurak in Yigi Sub-district, Nduga District.
On March 2, 2022, several members of an armed Papuan group operating in Beoga Sub-district, Puncak District, killed eight Palaparing Timur Telematika (PTT) workers, who were repairing a base transceiver station (BTS) tower belonging to state-owned telecommunications operator Telkomsel.
On February 7, 2023, New Zealander pilot Phillip Mark Mehrtens was taken hostage by the Egianus Kogoya-led armed group. He was piloting an aircraft belonging to Indonesian airline Susi Air when he was captured by the armed group. Members of the group set his aircraft on fire shortly after it landed in Nduga District.
On October 16, 2023, Papuan separatists attacked several traditional gold miners in Yahukimo District, Papua Pegunungan Province, killing seven of them.
On November 25, 2023, four soldiers were killed in a gunfight with Papuan rebels in Paro Sub-district, Nduga District, Papua Province.
Thereafter, on January 19, 2024, a gunfight broke out between Indonesian security personnel and members of an armed group operating in Intan Jaya District, Central Papua.
A Brimob ranger named Alfando Steve Karamoy sustained gunshot wounds in the clash.
Thereafter, on April 10, 2024, the commandant of the 1703-04 Aradide Sub-district Military Command, Second Lieutenant Oktovianus Sogalrey, was shot dead by Papuan rebels in Paniai District, Central Papua.
Related news: Development in Papua Pegunungan is based on regional context: VP
Translator: Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The ‘All Eyes on Papua' campaign has been trending on social media amid rampant land confiscation from indigenous peoples in Papua. A number of environmental activists from the Awyu tribe in Boven Digoel and the Moi tribe in Sorong came to the Supreme Court building in Jakarta.
Donning traditional attire of their respective tribes, the indigenous communities held prayers and traditional rituals in front of the office of the country's highest judicial institution. They are fighting against the government and the palm oil company through lawsuits, hoping that the Supreme Court will issue a legal that protects their ancestral forests and lands.
“The entire existence of palm oil companies in Papua has led to violations of the rights of indigenous peoples. Locals have been pushed out of their living spaces. They are struggling to meet their needs for food, water, and medicine, while culture and knowledge have been lost due to the absence of forests,” several Papuan community alliances said in a press release.
According to the Papua Youth Student Alliance for Forests and Indigenous Peoples' Rights (AMPERAMADA), the Merauke People's Movement Against Sugar Cane (GERTAK), the Malamoi Movement, and the South Papua Youth Student Environmental Community (KOMPPAS), the problems faced by the Awyu and Moi tribes are just a small picture of the situation of indigenous people's land confiscation, as millions of hectares of forest have been given over to oil palm plantations.
Recently, the government allocated two million hectares of land for sugarcane plantations, which could adversely affect the Malind tribe and the ecology.
Coinciding with World Environment Day on June 5, the Papuan people's alliance urged the government to promptly cease the issuance of permits to companies engaging in land grabbing and deforestation of customary forests in the Land of Papua.
They asked the government to immediately review and revoke all mining, plantation, and forestry permits, that damage the environment and deprive Papuan indigenous peoples of their rights, and to restore the rights of Papuans.
In addition, the alliance called for regulations that uphold, protect, and fulfill the rights of indigenous peoples, and urged the international community to pay special attention to Papua's indigenous peoples, Papua's forests, and environmental degradation amid the increasingly massive investment onslaught in Papua.
INTAN SETIAWANTY
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