Five workers killed by insurgents in Highland Papua, manhunt underway
Colonel (Inf.) Tri Purwanto, information unit chief of the XVII Military Regional Command/Cenderawasih, said that four of the five victims have been identified and evacuated.
“The three bodies have been evacuated to Mulia Regional General Hospital in Puncak Jaya District. Meanwhile, one body was evacuated to Karubaga, and the other remained at the incident site,” Purwanto told ANTARA on Monday.
The victims, all road construction workers hired by PT SHJ, were identified as Arman Sibarani, Erlin Aritonang, Alfons, and Barengga.
According to Purwanto, the separatists, officially referred to as “armed criminal groups,” attacked the workers’ camp in Woniki Sub-district, Tolikara, on Sunday evening and killed the five workers who rested there. There were 10 workers at the camp, he added.
The military regional command condemned the armed attack against civilian workers who build infrastructure for the convenience of the Papuans.
In response to the attack, the joint TNI and police personnel have launched an operation to pursue the perpetrators and maintain security for the safety of the locals, he remarked.
The armed groups have frequently used hit-and-run tactics against Indonesian troops and staged assaults on civilians in districts including Intan Jaya, Nduga, Yahukimo, and Puncak.
Targets have included construction workers, motorcycle taxi drivers, teachers, students, food vendors, and civilian aircraft crews.
Notable incidents include February 7, 2023: New Zealand pilot Phillip Mark Mehrtens was taken hostage by an armed group led by Egianus Kogoya after landing a Susi Air flight in Nduga District. His aircraft was then set on fire.
April 2025: Sixteen illegal gold miners were shot dead by an armed group in Yahukimo District, Highland Papua.
July 2, 2026: American pilot Nicholas F. Goselin, 29, was fatally shot by an armed separatist group after landing in Balinggama, Yahukimo District, in Indonesia’s Highland Papua Province.
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Translator: Evarukdijati, Nabil Ihsan