OPM killed driver in Papua

A group of armed men of Free Papua Organization (OPM) shot a public transportation driver to dead in Puncak Jaya sub-district, Papua on Saturday.

Head of Public Division of Papua Police Adj. Sr. Comr. Sulistyo Pudjo Hartono told that the victim, identified as Ali Mangalik, 30, was shot in the head and died at the scene.

The shooting might have been done to disrupt security in Puncak Jaya, which has been stable in the past month, according Sulistyo.

“We continue to hunt down the shooters. When they’re arrested, they will be charged with criminal offences,” he said.

Saturday’s shooting is the second one this month, following the death of First Pte. Andri Candrayansyah, who was shot on September in Puncak Jaya.

Nine soldiers, six civilians and one medical worker have been killed in a series of shootings in Papua since February 2013.(*wpnn)

Economic gap seen as cause of security problem in Papua

Economic and social gap is the root cause of persistent security problem in Papua, Velix Wanggai, a special staff of the president on regional autonomy, said.

The problem has to be sorted out through comprehensive approaches to create peace in the rebellious region, Velix said when accompanying President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on a working visit in this Central Java district on Thursday (21/2).

Velix made the statement when asked to comment on the incident earlier that day when eight soldiers were killed in Papua shot at by armed gangs of rebels.

He said feeling of injustice by local people over economic and social gap between Papua and the rest of the country was exploited by the rebels to incite the fight for independence led by the outlawed Free Papua Organization (OPM).

Papua has not enjoyed the fruit of development and felt being isolated from the rest of the country, he said.

Papua is known to be rich in natural resources with large mineral reserves of copper, gold, silver and oil.

Papua hold the country`s largest reserves of copper, gold and natural gas but ironically the scarcely populated region remains lagging behind the rest of the country in economic development.

“The backwardness, disappointment and dissatisfaction serve as an ammunition to incite resistance against the government,” Velix said.

The resistance movement is concentrated in isolated areas like Puncak Jaya regency, he added.

He said the government is fully aware of the problem and what has caused the problem, therefore, steps have been taken to remove the gap and reduce the feelings of injustice.

In the past 10 years, the government has tried to create more effective bureaucracy by splitting regencies such as Jaya Wijaya regency into 10 regencies, he pointed out.

The purpose is to get the district administrations closer to the people in the vast region, he said.

In addition, the government has built new infrastructure such as roads and airports to facilitate transport, he added.

He said the policy of naming local leaders having good knowledge of the areas and familiar with the local culture should be maintained.

Source: ANTARA News

OPM attacks Indonesian military chopper in Papua

The separatist group, Free Papua Organization (OPM), shots at an Indonesian military helicopter in the province of Papua on Friday (22/02) as the crew was trying to evacuate the bodies of eight soldiers killed in the OPM’s attacks the day before.

Three crew members were wounded in Friday’s attack on the Super Puma helicopter, which was forced to abort its mission and rush the injured to a hospital, said Lt. Col. Jansen Simanjuntak, an army spokesman.

Eight soldiers and four civilians were killed in two separate attacks in the area on Thursday. The area is a stronghold of separatists who have battled Indonesian rule in the region.

In the deadliest attack Thursday, about 20 assailants armed with guns and machetes attacked a group of soldiers walking to Ilaga Airport in Puncak district to collect communication equipment, killing seven, Simanjuntak said.

Col. Agus Rianto, a national police spokesman said Friday, that four civilians were killed.

About an hour before that attack, OPM gunmen stormed an army post in Tingginambut, a village in neighboring Puncak Jaya district, and fatally shot one soldier and injured another before fleeing into the jungle, Simanjuntak said.

Simanjuntak identified the assailants as members of a local separatist group led by Goliat Tabuni.

Senior Security Minister Djoko Suyanto said the incidents were “very irresponsible acts by the OPM armed groups in Papua,” adding that “the government very strongly condemns such brutal incidents.” He said the perpetrators would be captured and prosecuted.

The former Dutch colony of Papua in the western part of New Guinea was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 following a U.N.-sponsored ballot.

Source: Associated Press

OPM kills 8 soldiers, 2 civilians in Indonesia

Free Papua Organization (OPM) killed eight soldiers and two civilians Thursday (21/02) in two separate attacks against the Indonesian army in the restive easternmost province of Papua, the military said.

About 20 assailants armed with guns and machetes attacked a group of nine soldiers walking to Ilaga Airport in Puncak district to collect communication equipment, killing seven, provincial army spokesman Lt. Col. Jansen Simanjuntak said.

He said two civilians working in a nearby farm were also killed in the attack.

About an hour earlier, gunmen stormed an army post in Tinggi Nambut, a village in neighboring Puncak Jaya district, and fatally shot one soldier and injured another before fleeing into the jungle, Simanjuntak said.

Indonesian military spokesman Rear Adm. Iskandar Sitompul said the same group was responsible for both attacks in the area, a stronghold of separatists who have battled Indonesian rule.

“They are believed to be old players who always try to disturb the situation there,” Sitompul said in Jakarta, the capital.

Simanjuntak identified the assailants as a local separatist group led by Goliat Tabuni.

The former Dutch colony of Papua in the western part of New Guinea was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 following a U.N.-sponsored ballot.

Source: Associated Press

OPM Kills Student in Indonesia’s Papua

A university student in Indonesia’s Papua province was reportedly stabbed and beaten to death by a group of men of Free Papua Organization (OPM) on his way home in Jayapura late on Sunday (03/06).

The victim, identified as 19 year-old Jimi Ajudh Purba, was stabbed several times while being attacked by the group.

He died soon afterwards.

The police have yet to issue an official statement regarding the case.

The death comes several days after an elementary school teacher was shot and killed while shopping in Papua’s Puncak Jaya Regency.(*wpnn)

OPM Kills Teacher in Papua

A teacher was killed in the central mountain district of Mulia of Papua province on Tuesday (29/05).

A member of Free Papua Organization (OPM) shot and killed a teacher in Kurilik village, district of Puncak Jaya.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saud Usman Nasution said that the assailant approached the kiosk owned and operated by 36-year-old Anton Arung Tambila — who was also a teacher at a primary school — when he suddenly drew a gun and shot Anton in the head, killing him.

“We are hunting down the assailants. The problem is that we lack witnesses and evidence, and the perpetrators fled into the jungle,” Nasution said.(*wpnn)

OPM Behind the Attack On Motorcycle Driver

Police in the violence-wracked town of Mulia in Papua’s Puncak Jaya district have confirmed that three civilians were shot and injured on Thursday (19/05) by suspected separatists who killed a motorcycle taxi driver earlier in the day.

Sr. Comr. Wachyono, the Papua Police’s chief of detectives, said that following the fatal attack on Arkilaus Refwutu, 48, a joint police and military patrol was dispatched to search for the assailants.

“When they swept the area in the vicinity of the crime scene, they discovered three civilians who had also been shot,” he said.

He added that the three men were immediately taken to Mulia Hospital, where they were placed under intensive care for gunshot wounds.

“All we know for now is that three civilians were shot, but we don’t know how the incident played out,” he said.

The injured people have been identified as Tarinus Tabuni, 17, a high school student who was grazed in the head by a ricochet; Teringgen Murib, 55, a farmer who was shot in the leg; and Yuniter Murib, 20, another farmer who was shot in the leg and grazed in the arm by a bullet’s ricochet.

Teringgen was later evacuated by air to a larger hospital in Jayapura due to the severity of his injury, said Adj. Sr. Comr. Marcelis, the Puncak Jaya Police chief.

All three men were found shot and bleeding following the earlier ambush on Arkilaus, a motorcycle taxi driver who was shot in the head by unknown assailants as he was driving a customer home to Yalinggua village in Mulia.

The police took Arkilaus’s body to Jayapura late on Thursday for an autopsy as part of the investigation into the shooting.

The police initially suspected an “armed civilian group” of killing the motorcycle taxi driver, but they now say that the follow-up attacks against the three other civilians indicate the attackers were likely members of the separatist Free Papua Organization (OPM).

The attacks on Thursday were the latest acts of violence to hit Mulia recently. Since the start of the year, there have been at least six shootings of civilians and security personnel there, leaving six people dead.

Source: The Jakarta Globe

Papua Shooters’ Identity Is Already Known: BIN

The identity of the gunmen who on Sunday fired machine guns at a commercial plane in Papua may already be known by authorities.

The chief of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), Lt. Gen. Marciano Norman, on Wednesday (11/04) told journalists: “The position of this group has already been identified. They are currently being pursued.”

Speaking to journalists at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Marciano declined to give further details, only saying that the hunt for the attackers was now focused on the location of the shooting in Mulia, the district town in Puncak Jaya, on the western coast of Papua.

Meanwhile, military leader Maj. Gen. M. Erwin Safitri said that the separatist Free Papua Organization (OPM) was behind the shooting of the airplane in Mulia, which caused the death of one of the passengers on board the Trigana Air aircraft .

“This was an act of the OPM. No other group in Papua has caused chaos there, and this has happened several times before,” Erwin said.

He said that while elsewhere in Papua the military have prioritized peaceful dialogue, Puncak Jaya was an exception, and “even more so since Goliath Tabuni [the local OPM chief] is still conducting a guerrilla campaign in the forests there,” he said.

National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said that police were coordinating with the local authorities to safeguard the area.

“We have coordinated with the administration in Puncak Jaya and all security personnel there,” Timur said.

Indonesian Armed Forces Commander Adm. Agus Suhartono said that the military was ready to assist the police in securing the area and both forces were coordinating well in Papua.

“We will provide the back up and we already have troops there,” he said.

Papua Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Johannes Nugroho Wicaksono said the Mulia airstrip will be operational today after local authorities agreed to increase the security presence in the area.

The airstrip has been the site of several shootings in recent years. Last year, a local police chief was ambushed and gunned down.

Source: The Jakarta Globe

President Yudhoyono Demands Quick Justice in Papua Attack

Soldiers may be deployed in Papua to assist the police in the search for the Free Papua Organization (OPM) responsible for Sunday’s attack on a commercial airplane, as the president demands swift justice.

The attack left one person dead and has raised fears that separatist rebels are becoming more brazen and could further undermine the fragile peace in the province.

“This must be solved quickly,” presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said on Monday (09/04). “Those responsible should be brought to justice. This is totally unacceptable.”

Julian said the president was concerned about the psychological effect the incident could have on residents, leaving them fearful and unable to function normally.

“This is proof that the situation in Papua is not yet secure and there are still many armed groups there,” he said.

Julian said security personnel in Papua were doing everything they could to solve the case and catch the assailants.

The president, Julian said, has also issued instructions that there should be no lack of personnel to assure security in Papua and that the military might be deployed to reinforce the police.

A group of armed OPM opened fire on a Twin Otter airplane operated by Trigana Air that had just landed at the airport in Mulia, in Puncak Jaya district.

The aircraft careered off the runway and into a warehouse. One passenger, a journalist, died after being shot in the neck. The pilot, co-pilot and a mother and her 4-year-old son were injured in the attack.

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said the police believed those responsible for Sunday’s attack had carried out previous attacks in the area.

“We suspect the perpetrators have carried out previous attacks,” he said. “They control the field there. Our team is working hard to investigate the attack and go after them.”

He said the attackers were part of an “armed civilian group” but gave no details.

Another National Police spokesman, Insp. Gen. Saud Usman Nasution, said the difficult terrain in the area would make it difficult for the authorities to hunt down the attackers. Mulia is in a mountainous area and the airport is hemmed in by peaks.

“This could happen again … it is really difficult,” the spokesman said. “The district police can ask for reinforcements from the Papua Police. If the Papua Police ask us for reinforcements, we will send them, whatever they need.”

He said so far the police had only been able to estimate that the shooters opened fire from about 50 meters away, he said.

Meanwhile, the Alliance of Independent Journalists is urging the National Police to quickly locate the shooters.

The journalist killed in the attack was Leiron Kogoya, 35, who was a reporter for Papua Pos, a local newspaper.

The airport has experienced several recent attacks, including one in October that saw the local police chief shot and killed.

Mulia has also been the scene of a string of unsolved shootings targeting both civilians and security personnel.

Source: The Jakarta Globe

Indonesia tightens security after OPM attacks plane in Papua

The Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered security forces to intensify and heighten security measures in Papua following the weekend attack on a commercial aircraft by an armed group of Free Papua Organization (OPM).

A Twin Otter plane operated by Trigana Air was shot at shortly after it touched down at Mulia Airport in the Puncak Jaya regency.

The President is reportedly shocked about the attack and says it proves the situation in the region is still unsafe, requiring a special approach by security authorities.

The OPM killed a journalist and injured several others, including the pilot and first officer.

The pilot lost control and the plane hit a warehouse.

Source: Radio New Zealand International