'Papuan separatists' kill six civilians

'Papuan separatists' kill six civilians

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

Unknown assailants, believed to be members of a Papuan rebel
group, launched an armed attack against civilians on Tuesday
night in Puncak Jaya regency here, killing six.

Five others, who were construction workers of PT Modern Widya
Technical, escaped the attack, which occurred on the outskirts of
Mulia, the capital of Puncak Jaya.

Col. W.P. Simanjuntak, deputy chief of the intelligence
division of Trikora Military Command, overseeing Papua, said on
Thursday that the attack started as at least 11 construction
workers -- in four Toyota hardtop jeeps and a pickup truck --
were on their way home to Mulia from Ilu district.

The workers had been contracted to build a road in Ilu.

As they traveled down a quiet street in Ilu, a group of men
opened fire on their cars. Despite major damage, several cars
escaped the ambush, but others were forced to stop. .

Some people who escaped the ambush drove to Mulia, where they
reported the attack to soldiers. The five were Nius Kobar, Alius
Jikwa, Yopi Wonda, Hendri and Sutjipto.

Based on the witnesses' testimonies, Simanjuntak said that at
least six people died in the incident: Jafar, Ali, Triono, Rudy,
Pak De and an unidentified person.

Simanjuntak added that soldiers were still trying to evacuate
the victims. He said that getting close to the location of the
attack would be difficult, as the assailants had reportedly
destroyed six bridges connecting Mulia to Ilu.

Dwi Budi Wahono, an employee of PT Modern Widya Technical,
said that his company had evacuated 26 of the company's workers
to Wamena city, for their own safety.

Antara news agency reported that hundreds of residents in Ilu
were evacuated following the incident. Unconfirmed reports say
that members of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) -- a resistance
movement active in the province since 1963 -- had also set ablaze
a government building in the district.

Deputy regent of Puncak Jaya Lukas Enember earlier said that
there had been three separate attacks by Papuan rebels on
civilians in the past two months.