Soldier mobbed to death in Irian Jaya
Soldier mobbed to death in Irian Jaya
JAKARTA (JP): A soldier was mobbed to death in the remote town
of Tiom, Irian Jaya, some 80 kilometers south of Wamena,
following a dispute between officers and locals over the pulling
down of the Morning Star separatist flag, an official said on
Wednesday.
"The incident took place four days ago (Friday) in Tiom. Pvt.
Saharuddin was mobbed to death by locals, allegedly from the Dani
tribe, after he and three other soldiers patrolling the area
spotted a Morning Star flag flying," the chief of Irian Jaya
Police Operation and Control Sr. Supt. Kusnadi told The Jakarta
Post from Jayapura.
"The soldiers asked the locals to lower the flag but after
nobody responded for sometime, the soldiers tore it down. That
was when the mob attacked the soldiers," Kusnadi said.
The body of Pvt. Saharuddin was sent home to Manado, North
Sulawesi, the officer said.
"The other three soldiers managed to escape the tribesmen, who
were brandishing arrows, machetes and other sharp weapons,"
Kusnadi said. "They suffered minor injuries."
John Rumbiak of the Institute for Human Rights Study and
Advocacy (ELSHAM), however, claimed that the soldiers had shot
four locals dead.
"Sources at the Baptist Church in Tiom told us that the locals
were singing, dancing and going wild over the flag they'd just
raised when soldiers arrived and shot them without warning," John
told AFP.
John said local Dani tribespeople had hoisted the flag in Tiom
the day before. After negotiations with soldiers they lowered it,
but on Friday the locals hoisted the flag at another location.
Officer Kusnadi said that on Saturday and Sunday security
forces beefed up troops' numbers in Tiom, sending five truckloads
of police and soldiers and two military helicopters to the area.
"The government policy is clear. No separatist movement is
allowed. We try to be persuasive but we also have to stay alert
as the separatist movement is now changing from the previous
proindependence task force Satgas Papua to a liberation front
army," Kusnadi said.
Police and military sources stated that there were about 200
members of the army liberation front in Irian Jaya.
The route to Tiom is difficult as many of its connecting roads
have been either blown away or damaged by the separatists,
Kusnadi said.
The incident has brought the death toll of continuous violence
in Irian Jaya to at least 50 this year.
In Wamena alone, at least 35 were killed and 45 others injured
-- mostly migrant settlers -- as thousands of proindependence
Papuan militias ran amok on Oct. 6, following the pulling down of
Morning Star flags by the police.
Wamena, located about 290 kilometers southwest of the
provincial capital of Jayapura, is also known as the base of
proindependence militia. (edt)