TNI troops kill 10 Papua rebels
Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura, Papua
The Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel shot dead 10 Papua rebels, including rebel leader Yustinus Murib, in a predawn raid on Wednesday in Jayawijaya regency here, some 650 kilometers west of Jayapura, the capital of Papua.
The TNI personnel also seized from the rebels three M-16 rifles, one revolver, one Mouser rifle, thousands of bullets and a number of documents concerning the Papua Free Movement's (OPM) fight for independence.
The raid began at 5 a.m on Wednesday, when some 60 TNI personnel, led by Lt. Col. Gustav Agus Irianto, besieged Yalengga subdistrict in the Jayawijaya regency.
The siege was held following an intelligence report that the area had become a temporary base for Papua rebels, led by Yustinus Murib, who planned to attack Wamena, the capital of Jayawijaya.
According to the military intelligence report, the group of some 40 rebels were staying somewhere in the subdistrict of Yalengga, some 25 kilometers west of Wamena.
"They were present there, aiming to stir up trouble in the regency. They planned to attack an arsenal belonging to Jayawijaya Police Precinct and the building of Jayawijaya Legislative Council, but we successfully aborted their plan," Maj. Gen. Nurdin Zainal, the chief of Trikora Military Command overseeing Papua province, told The Jakarta Post.
Eight rebels were killed during the raid. Two others -- including Yustinus Murib -- were shot dead, as the TNI personnel combed the area following the raid.
The TNI personnel also detained a six-year-old boy Urius Jikwa at the Jayawijaya District Military Command. The boy was seen earlier with the rebels and was left behind when they fled the area toward the Papua jungle. No fatalities were reported among the TNI personnel.
Previously, on May 14 this year in Kuyawage area, also in the regency of Jayawijaya, two rebels were shot dead by TNI personnel.
Commenting on the weapons used by the rebels, Nurdin said that the TNI personnel had identified the two M-16 rifles seized during the raid as belonging to the Jayawijaya District Military Command.
The rebels reportedly stole the rifles from the arsenal of the district military command on April 4, this year.
The raid followed an armed attack on Tuesday, when a group of 10 Papua rebels targeted eight construction workers and two police personnel in a school building unit in the Papua regency of Paniai, some 1,000 kilometers west of Jayapura.
One worker died after being shot in the head during the attack. Three other workers and a police officer were seriously injured, while the remaining four workers were reported to be missing. Chief Brig. Wardoyo survived the attack unharmed.
Attacks have been periodic here since the Free Papua Movement waged an armed resistance against the Indonesian authority, after Papua was incorporated into Indonesia in 1963.