JAYAPURA: Papua police have vowed to crack down on the armed criminals who killed eight people in Yahukimo district, Papua Pegunungan, on October 16 and Puncak district, Papua Tengah, on October 19, this year.
“To this end, we have been preparing the necessary steps for the law enforcement efforts to avoid more (civilian) casualties,” Papua Police chief, Inspector General Mathius Fakhiri, said here on Friday.
The efforts to crack down on the perpetrators need to be made carefully by co-ordinating with various elements in local communities, he added.
On October 16, Papuan separatists assaulted several traditional gold miners in Seradala sub-district, Yahukimo district, Papua Pegunungan province, and killing seven of them.
Three days later, members of another separatist group operating in Eromaga sub-district, Puncak district, assaulted several workers engaged in the Omukia medical centre project, killing a worker and injuring two others.
Following the gold mining incident, a joint team of personnel from the Cartenz Peace Operation Task Force and Yahukimo district police evacuated 52 gold miners from the site, he informed.
In a recent law enforcement mission in Serambakon sub-district, Pegunungan Bintang district, Papua Pegunungan province, and Indonesian security personnel shot dead six armed criminals, he said.
The crackdown on the armed criminals was carried out after they gunned down an elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officer, wounded three civilians, and burned down houses and buildings, Fakhiri said.
ANTARA has reported earlier that over the past few years, armed Papuan groups have often employed hit-and-run tactics against Indonesian security personnel and mounted acts of terror against civilians in the districts of Intan Jaya, Nduga, and Puncak to instil fear among the people.
The targets of such acts of terror have included construction workers, motorcycle taxi (ojek) drivers, teachers, students, street food vendors, and also civilian aircraft.
On December 2, 2018, a group of armed Papuan rebels brutally killed 31 workers from PT Istaka Karya who were engaged in the Trans Papua project in Kali Yigi and Kali Aurak in Yigi sub-district, Nduga district.
On March 2, 2022, several members of an armed Papuan group operating in Beoga sub-district, Puncak district, killed 8 Palaparing Timur Telematika (PTT) workers, who were repairing a base transceiver station (BTS) tower belonging to state-owned telecommunications operator Telkomsel.
On February 7 this year, a group of armed Papuan separatists attacked a civilian aircraft owned by Susi Air. They burned the plane at Paro Airfield, Nduga district, and captured its pilot, Captain Philip Mark Mehrtens.
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