Stolen rifles recovered in military compound
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.