Why the TPNPB-OPM shot dead eight gold miners in Yahukimo

TPNPB OPM explained the reason for shooting eight people who mined gold in the Korowai area, Yahukimo Regency, Papua Highlands, on Wednesday, 20 May 2026.

The spokesperson for the TPNPB central command, Sebby Sambom, said the action was carried out by the TPNPB Kodap XVI militia as a hard warning that Yahukimo is a war zone that civilians are not allowed to enter, particularly those not from Papua. ‘This is also our retaliation for the death of Kodap XVI Yahukimo militiamen at the hands of the TNI soldiers earlier,’ Sebby said in a short voice message on Friday, 22 May 2026.

A week before the militiamen shot eight gold miners, two TPNPB militiamen were shot dead by TNI soldiers. The two are claimed to have died without resistance.

According to Sebby, the two TPNPB militiamen of Kodap XVI Yahukimo met unintentionally with the soldiers while the two were searching for milisi logistics supplies. They were shot despite being unarmed. ‘TNI-Polri shot at our troops; this is the retaliation,’ Sebby said.

Sebby accuses the eight gold miners who were shot of also being military intelligence operatives who were undercover to gather information and locate the militia’s headquarters. With that consideration, he said what the TPNPB militiamen did did not violate international humanitarian law or human rights.

‘This is combatant against combatant. Besides, they have damaged the Papua environment which we have protected since our ancestors,’ Sebby said.

Earlier, the TPNPB central command announced it had shot eight gold miners in Korowai, Yahukimo. The bodies of the eight are currently being evacuated by joint TNI-Polri troops.

In a written statement, the Head of Public Information of the Operational Task Force Habema, Lieutenant Colonel Wirya Arthadiguna, said the force had deployed troops and air assets to pursue and recover the victims’ bodies. ‘Helicopters have been deployed to reach the scene located in the interior,’ Wirya said on Friday.

The TNI reiterated that the eight gold miners shot by the TPNPB militiamen were ordinary civilians, not military intelligence personnel. ‘That accusation is not true,’ he added.

Editor’s Note: Why the addition of troops has failed to stop the Papua conflict.