Army sends Kopassus back into Papua<\/p>\n
Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura, Papua<\/p>\n
After a daring burglary at the Wamena military district's arsenal
\non Friday in which two soldiers were killed and 29 rifles were
\nstolen, 144 combat soldiers from the Army's Special Forces have
\nbeen deployed to hunt down those responsible.<\/p>\n
The elite soldiers were flown Jakarta by a Hercules C-13 cargo
\nplane to Wamena, the capital of Jayawijaya regency, and were
\nordered to immediately join the manhunt in forest areas in the
\nregency.<\/p>\n
Trikora Military commander overseeing Papua Brig. Gen. Nurdin
\nZainal said that his soldiers had so far recovered 10 M-16 and
\nSP2 rifles.<\/p>\n
\"We will continue with the manhunt until we recover the
\nremaining 19 rifles and arrest the rebels,\" he said in Wamena on
\nSaturday.<\/p>\n
The burglary has been blamed on the Free Papua Movement (OPM)
\nseparatist group.<\/p>\n
The deployment of elite troops came just over one month after
\nthe Army dissolved a Kopassus task force in Papua after a six-
\nyear presence.<\/p>\n
When seeing off the last batch of Kopassus task force
\ncomprising 250 personnel late in March, then Trikora Military
\ncommander Maj. Gen. Mahidin Simbolon said that no replacement
\ntroops would be sent to the province as security had greatly
\nimproved.<\/p>\n
Despite the implication of seven Kopassus soldiers in the
\nmurder of Papua independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluaway in
\nNovember 2001, Mahidin said the dissolution of the task force had
\nnothing to do with resistance by locals.<\/p>\n
Zainal said he had also ordered all security posts in remote
\nareas in the regency to stay alert against attacks by OPM rebels
\nusing the stolen arms.<\/p>\n
Two soldiers identified as First Lt. A. Napitupulu and First
\nSgt. Ruben Lena and alleged rebel Islae Murib were killed in a
\ngunfight when around 15 men broke into the arsenal and stole the
\nrifles and ammunition.<\/p>\n
Napitupulu's body was taken to Yogyakarta for burial while
\nRuben's was buried in Nabire.<\/p>\n
The incident sparked a harsh reaction from Army Chief of Staff
\nGen. Ryamizard Ryacudu, who ordered the military in Papua to hunt
\ndown the rebels and recover the stolen arms.<\/p>\n
Separately, a team led by Col. Sutarno, chief of the military
\npolice in the province, is investigating the burglary.<\/p>\n
There is suspicion that personnel from the military district
\nplayed a role in the theft because the burglary occurred under
\nnoses of on-duty soldiers. Six soldiers have been already
\ninterrogated in connection with the incident and six employees of
\nstate electricity company PT PLN's local office were also
\nquestioned because there was a blackout at the time of the
\nincident.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Paskalis Kossay, a legislator of the Golkar Party
\nat the provincial legislative council, called on the local
\nmilitary to be extra cautious in carrying out the military
\noperation to avoid the loss of innocent lives.<\/p>\n
He also said it was odd that a theft could occur at the
\nmilitary district's headquarters located in the middle of the
\nWamena town.<\/p>\n
\"All officers who were on duty at the time of the burglary
\nshould be interrogated, but we don't want the soldiers making any
\nmistakes such as those made in 1977,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The local military killed a number of villagers during a
\nmilitary operation to release Indonesian and foreign researchers
\nabducted by rebels in Mpenduma, Wamena, in 1977.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/army-sends-kopassus-back-into-papua-1447893297",
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