National Police buy thousands of firearms
National Police buy thousands of firearms
JAKARTA (JP): The National Police has purchased several
thousand AK rifles from Russia and will purchase more to arm its
elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) forces to fight disturbances in
restive areas in the country.
The police will also purchase other weapons and ammunition
from Bandung-based state-owned weapons and ammunition
manufacturer PT Pindad.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Didi Widayadi said the
police faced a severe shortage of firearms. Currently, the police
are in need of about 23,000 weapons, he said.
"The AK-47 and AK-101 rifles, which are commonly considered as
weapons of war, are needed by our Brimob forces to fight against
rebellious separatists nationwide," Didi told The Jakarta Post on
Tuesday.
He said the police formerly purchased over 5,000 5.56-caliber
AK rifles from Russia last year. "We bought the AK rifles from
Russia because they offered a more competitive price than weapons
offered by Pindad."
Didi said Pindad had since lowered the price of its weapons,
and the National Police had agreed to purchase weapons and
ammunition from the state-owned company.
In addition to the AK rifles, the National Police plans to
purchase standard police weapons such as Colt guns to arm its
detectives and intelligence officers, particularly in the
regions, he said.
Many of the weapons will be sent to officers in conflict areas
such as Maluku, Kalimantan and Aceh.
Two years of communal violence in the Maluku provinces has
resulted in wide-spread devastation in the territory. Before the
conflict, the total population of Maluku and North Maluku
provinces was about 2.4 million. About 8,000 people have been
killed and some 230,000 others have fled their homes and are now
living as refugees in other parts of Maluku and in other
provinces.
A recent outbreak of ethnic violence recently struck Central
Kalimantan, with some 400 people killed in clashes between
Madurese migrants and local Dayaks.
In the restive Aceh province, armed clashes between separatist
rebels and security forces, including the police, have claimed at
least 400 lives this year alone. (ylt)