Stolen rifles recovered in military compound
Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura, Papua
After four days of an operation to recover 29 stolen rifles and the rebels who allegedly stole them, combat soldiers from the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) recovered nine of the rifles, six of which they located on the Wamena military district compound, the very place from where they went missing.
On Friday, 29 rifles were stolen from the military district's arsenal, prompting Jakarta to deploy 144 Kopassus personnel on Saturday, ordering them to hunt down the thieves in the forest in Jayawijaya regency.
The deployment of the elite troops came just over a month after the Army recalled a Kopassus task force in Papua after a six-year presence.
Trikora Military Commander Nurdin Zainal, who oversees Papua, told The Jakarta Post in an interview that three of the nine recovered rifles were surrendered willingly by local residents of Napua village, while the remaining six were recovered in the housing complex inside the Wamena military district compound.
There was suspicion that personnel from the military district played a role in the theft because the burglary occurred under very noses of on-duty soldiers. Six soldiers had already been interrogated in connection with the incident. Six employees of state electricity company PT PLN's local office were also questioned because there was a blackout at the time of the burglary.
The recovered nine rifles are PM, M16 and SP types. Ten other rifles were recovered on Saturday, only one day after the burglary. Soldiers are still searching for the remaining 10 missing rifles, which are allegedly in the hands of rebels.
The burglary has been blamed on Titus Murib and Kelly Kwalik's Free Papua Movement (OPM) separatist group, which operates in the territory.
In the interview, Nurdin explained that within four days of the military operation, the soldiers had identified the locations of two rebel hideouts.
"We will continue to search until we recover all the stolen rifles and apprehend those responsible," said Nurdin.
He said the military was handling the case professionally and would not violate human rights. "It's proven that in four days of the operation, no human rights violations were reported as having been committed by the military," he explained.
The military had gathered local religious and community leaders, as well as tribal chiefs, to give them clear information about the burglary and the operation, he said.
"I said to them that if they have any complaints about the operation, they can directly report them to the Wamena district military, not to any unofficial report centers," he said.