A video obtained by the ABC shows a dramatic operation by the Indonesian military to recover the body of an American pilot, shot dead by Papuan separatists in the restive province of the Papua Highlands.
Images released by the TPNPB show the charred remains of the aircraft, with a Papuan separatist fighter posing next to it.
"We had issued an ultimatum prohibiting all civilian aircraft from entering the TPNPB region … operational areas," Sebby Sambom said.
"Civilian aircraft continue to drop Indonesian military troops and logistics into the Papuan interior to conduct military operations that have killed many indigenous Papuan civilians.
"The shooting of the American pilot is to pay for a mistake by the Indonesian, United States of America, Dutch government and UN for failing to address the root causes of the conflict in Papua between the Indonesian military and the West Papua Liberation Army."
The Indonesian military has denied that the plane was used to carry troops.
Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs, Djamari Chaniago, said he condemned the attack.
"[The ministry] reaffirmed that the government of Indonesia will not tolerate any form of violence or heinous acts against civilians or against air transportation infrastructure," the ministry said in a statement.
"The ministry will continue to support a thorough investigation and firm law enforcement measures by the TNI and police against those responsible."
Amnesty International Indonesia's executive director described the killing as a "tragic and profound violation of human rights".
"The deliberate murder of a civilian pilot and the subsequent burning of his aircraft represent a stark deterioration of civilian protection in the Papua region," executive director Usman Hamid said.
"All parties to the conflict in Papua must send a clear message to those they lead that any unlawful attacks against everyday people are not acceptable."
Dozens killed in past year
Papuan separatists have been involved in a low-level conflict against Indonesian security forces, as part of a decades-long struggle for independence in the resource-rich territory of Papua.
That conflict has surged over the past year, with dozens of rebels, security forces and civilians killed.
Foreigners, too, have been caught up in the conflict.
In early 2023, New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens, who was flying for an Indonesian aviation company, was kidnapped by Papuan rebels and held for around 18 months.
A separate New Zealand pilot, Glen Malcolm Conning, was killed after landing in a remote village.
In May last year, Human Rights Watch said an escalation of fighting was seriously threatening the security of Papua's largely indigenous population.
Human Rights Monitor, an NGO, said as of June this year more than 120,000 Papuans across multiple regencies were internally displaced due to military operations.
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The Diplomat
3) Indonesia Recovers Body of American Pilot Killed by Papuan Separatists
The West Papua National Liberation Army has a history of targeting aircraft servicing remote parts of the Papuan highlands.
Sebastian Strangio By Sebastian Strangio July 03, 2026
Indonesia’s military says that it has recovered the body of an American pilot who was shot dead by separatist insurgents in the eastern region of Papua yesterday, in what the rebels described as a “message” to the U.S. and Indonesian governments.
Sebby Sambom, a spokesperson for the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), the armed wing of the Free Papua Organization, said yesterday that its troops shot dead American pilot Nicholas F. Gosselin after he landed at an airstrip in the Yahukimo regency of Highland Papua province.
He accused the aircraft of transporting Indonesian military personnel into the area.
“We immediately fired upon and burned the plane because it had violated the TPNPB ultimatum,” he said. “We are prepared to fire upon any civilian aircraft across the Land of Papua that assists Indonesian military forces in transporting troops or military logistics.”
The attack was a message to the Indonesian and U.S. governments for “failing to address the root causes of the conflict in Papua between the Indonesian military and the West Papua National Liberation Army,” Sebby added.
Today, Wirya Artadiguna, a military spokesperson in Papua, confirmed that Gosselin’s body had been recovered and evacuated, and said that the military was seeking those responsible.
In a separate statement quoted by BBC News, Indonesia’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation said there were no security concerns raised as Gosselin’s flight came in to land, but that communications were lost shortly after it touched down. According to Reuters, the aircraft was operated by the airline PT AMA, whose planes carry food, fuel and mail to remote villages in Papua
Papua has been home to a simmering separatist insurgency since the region was absorbed by Indonesia in 1969, after what independence activists say was a flawed U.N. referendum. But the conflict has worsened considerably over the past decade, as the Indonesian state has extended infrastructure and transport links into the heart of highland Papua, prompting more damaging and sophisticated attacks by the TPNPB and Papuan independence groups.
The eastern portion of the region in particular has become increasingly militarized since 2018. As of 2022, the U.N. was reporting that more than 100,000 people had been displaced by the escalating conflict.
The TPNPB has a history of targeting aircraft servicing remote and isolated parts of the Papuan highlands. In February 2023, its soldiers attacked and destroyed an aircraft at an airport in Nduga, also in Highland Papua province. It also kidnapped its New Zealand pilot, Philip Mehrtens, threatening to kill him if its demands for independence were not met. The TPNPB released Mehrtens in September 2024, following talks with the Indonesian authorities.
A month prior to Mehrtens’ release, another New Zealander, helicopter pilot Glen Malcolm Conning, was shot and killed by TPNPB soldiers shortly after landing in an isolated part of Central Papua province.
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4) Evangelist, teenager killed in Indonesian army operations in Papua
Human Rights Minister urges commanders to control their personnel after Intan Jaya incidents that also left two injured
By UCA News reporter Published: July 03, 2026 05:13 AM GMT
An evangelist and a teenager were shot dead, and two young men were injured in separate military operations in Indonesia's Papua, prompting the local regent to strip off his official uniform in a public protest and drawing a rare rebuke from the country’s human rights minister.
Elianus Agimbau, a 20-year-old worker of the Evangelical Tabernacle Church’s Damsik Kupia congregation in Agisiga district in restive Intan Jaya regency, was killed on June 29.
He was traveling toward Sugapa, the regency’s capital, amid deteriorating security conditions, Intan Jaya Regent Aner Maiseni said in a statement.
His body was found the following day in bushes near a military post.
That same day, Daud Hagisimijau and Kiko Hagisimijau from Titigi village were shot and wounded while using an excavator at the construction site of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Maiseni said.
On July 1, the body of Okto Tigau, 19, was found near the Rajawali Habema military post in Mamba village, with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen, a severed left ear, and injuries consistent with torture.
Responding to the news of the violence, Indonesia’s Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai called on the commanders of the Indonesian military to control their personnel in Papua.
“Almost every day there are deaths of innocent civilians,” he said on July 1 while stressing the need for “a human rights-oriented approach” to minimizing civilian casualties.
His ministry would closely monitor the situation, Pigai, a Catholic, said.
Meanwhile, Regent Maiseni staged a public protest on July 1 near teenager Tigau’s body by removing his official uniform in the presence of mourning family members and local villagers.
“I remove his uniform as a sign that our hearts are laid bare and bleeding, seeing our children murdered without cause,” he is heard saying, his voice trembling, in a video on the protest obtained by UCA News.
“They [Papuans] are not enemies of the state; they are people who only want to live in peace, build their places of worship, and keep away from danger,” he adds.
Marthen Weya, a relative of the evangelist, said: “We as his family affirm that the late Elianus Agimbau was a shepherd entrusted with caring for his flock.”
Weya told UCA News that their only hope was “that the case is truly tried and processed legally so that the family gets justice.”
Indonesian military’s Operation Command, or Koops Habema, an elite security task force established to secure the conflict-prone highlands of Central Papua, including Intan Jaya regency, confirmed only the death of Tigau.
Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel M. Wirya Arthadiguna said on July 2 that four individuals were detected moving covertly toward a military post at night and issued warnings that went unheeded.
He claimed that the approaching group opened fire.
Tigau was a deputy operations commander of the separatist West Papua National Liberation Army (TPN- PB), and a machete was found near his body, he added.
“All actions by military personnel were carried out in accordance with applicable rules of engagement,” Arthadiguna asserted.
Meanwhile, Sebby Sambon, spokesman for the TPN-PB, in a statement on July 1, accused the Indonesian military of carrying out attacks targeting civilians.
Intan Jaya has been a conflict flashpoint between Indonesian security forces and the West Papua National Liberation Army for several years.
Accountability for civilian casualties has remained rare, and independent access to affected areas is heavily restricted.
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