Nine Women Allegedly Taken Hostage by Armed Group in Mimika

Police are investigating an alleged hostage-taking of civilians by an armed group in Jila District, Mimika Regency, Central Papua.

Police said the information was obtained from members of the public and subsequently passed on to personnel at the Jila police post.

Mimika Police Chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Alredo Agustinus Rumbiak said that, to date, police have not obtained direct testimony from residents who witnessed the alleged hostage-taking.

“According to information from my personnel at the Jila police post, that is what the community conveyed,” he said on Wednesday, 19 August 2026.

However, Alredo stressed that police have not yet obtained the identities of the alleged victims or any witnesses who directly saw the incident.

“Up to now, no one has been able to provide the names of the alleged hostages or give testimony of having seen the incident. We are still investigating the information from the community,” he said.

Based on initial information gathered, the alleged hostage-taking is said to have occurred in Jila District on Tuesday, 18 August 2026, and involved nine civilians, all of whom were women.

The nine residents are alleged to have been taken hostage by an armed group. However, police are still investigating the veracity of the information, including the identities and whereabouts of the residents said to be victims.

Jila District is one of 18 districts in Mimika Regency. The area is located in a mountainous region, and access to the district is partly by small-bodied aircraft.