Two OPM Members Killed in Shootout with TNI Troops in Yahukimo
The Habema Task Force successfully neutralised two members of the OPM in the Kali Fis area, Yahukimo Regency, Highland Papua Province. The firefight broke out while officers were evacuating the body of Teina Alya, a Papuan resident who had been shot and thrown into a 50-metre deep ravine by the OPM.
“The TNI Habema Task Force was met with live ammunition fire from 10 members of the OPM Kodap XVI Yahukimo, led by Kopi Tua Heluka, while attempting to apprehend them in the Kali Fis Complex area, Yahukimo Regency, Highland Papua,” stated the Commander of the TNI Habema Task Force, Major General Yudha Airlangga, in a statement on Saturday (1/8/2026).
Several OPM members, wearing bulletproof vests and wielding automatic weapons, rained fire upon the Habema forces. In response, the Task Force was forced to take measured, decisive action, resulting in the deaths of two of the ten OPM members.
“The body of one OPM member, along with his body vest and automatic weapon, was carried away from the battlefield by eight other members. Meanwhile, the body of one of their comrades was left behind by the separatist group led by Kopi020Tua Heluka,” he added.
Once the situation was under control, the Habema Task Force evacuated the body of Teina Alya using commando rappelling techniques to allow personnel to navigate the steep ravine quickly. Troops also monitored the area to anticipate follow-up attacks from the OPM, similar to incidents that occurred during previous evacuations.
The remains of Teina Alya are currently at the Dekai Hospital in Yahukimo, Highland Papua. The family plans to conduct a traditional burial.
“I express my highest appreciation for the extraordinary dedication of the Habema Forces, who tirelessly ventured deep into the jungle, crossed rivers, and navigated steep and rugged terrain during the evacuation and pursuit of the OPM Kodap XVI Yahukimo led by Kopi Tua Heluka. Once again, thank you, and I am proud of you,” said Yudha.
Yudha emphasised that his forces will continue to take firm action against law violations in the region. He characterised various tragic events, ranging from intimidation to the brutal murder of three indigenous Papuans in Yahukimo, as crimes committed by the OPM on Papuan soil.
“Alongside the Papuan people, the community, and humanity, the TNI will fight and finish the separatist groups that have desecrated our divine, human, religious, cultural, and customary values, so that peace, prosperity, and welfare can be realised and felt by all the people of the Land of the Cenderawasih, the sacred land in the eastern horizon of the Republic of Indonesia,” he concluded.