TNI clashes with suspected rebel group in Papua

Netty Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura, Papua

Soldiers hunting down the suspects in last month's raid against the Wamena military district arsenal, clashed with suspected rebels in Koyawage forest in the Papua regency of Jayawijaya on Thursday.

There were no casualties on either side during the skirmish which lasted for some 15 minutes, said the military chief of the Jayawijaya, Jayapura and Merauke regencies Col. Agus Muljadi.

He said the shooting started shortly after he arrived to inspect the area which he said had long been a stronghold of the Papua Free Movement (OPM).

Dozens of soldiers from the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) and the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) have already been deployed in the area and in other parts of the regency.

"They (the rebels) probably saw us coming with the helicopter, and not long after we landed, locals came up to us and said the rebels were hiding not far from where we were," he told The Jakarta Post.

Agus was accompanied by Jayawijaya military chief Lt. Col. Marsyum and the regency's secretary John Tujuwale.

He said the shooting started shortly after he ordered his men to pursue the rebels. However, the rebels were able to escape.

The skirmish followed an intensive hunt for the suspects in last month's raid against the Wamena arsenal which killed three people.

A group believed to be members of the OPM rebels broke into the arsenal on April 4. They stole at least 13 M-16 rifles, 13 SP-1 rifles and three PM rifles, along with thousands of rounds of ammunition.

The Indonesian Military (TNI) Headquarters in Jakarta sent 144 Kopassus and Kostrad soldiers to hunt down the suspects.

Of the 29 stolen weapons, 21 have been recovered.

The military police unit of the Trikora Military Command, which oversees Papua has also arrested nine soldiers and seven civilians for their alleged involvement in the raid.

Six of the nine soldiers were being charged with negligence for which they faced one year imprisonment.

The other three however allegedly gave the rebels the weapons and ammunition with which they shot dead two soldiers.

Agus said that since the military operation began to track down the rebels, he heard reports that they were forcibly evacuating people from their villages in the Koyawage forest. He expected these villagers would gradually return home.

He admitted that the government had hardly any contact with the people in Koyawage as the area lacked a district office to represent the government.

"In the past, this area was practically controlled by the OPM because there are no government officials," he said.

The OPM group is waging a low level war to fight for the independence of the resource-rich province. Around three million people live in Papua but many live in abject poverty, despite its vast natural resources like gold and oil and gas.