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One killed, two police missing in fresh Papua violence
JAKARTA, June 28, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – At least one person was killed and two
police officers are missing after suspected Papuan rebels fired at boats
carrying voters and police returning from a polling station, Indonesian
authorities said Thursday.
The attack — the third carried out in the restive region by an alleged
separatist group over the past week — happened Wednesday as tens of millions
voted in local elections across the Indonesian archipelago.
The gunmen shot at two boats carrying nine police officers and local
residents who had just finished voting in Torere district, Papua police
spokesman Ahmad Musthofa Kamal said.
The district chief of Torere was fatally shot in the attack while two
officers disappeared after they fell in the water, he added.
It was unclear if the missing police were shot before they dropped into
the river.
Seven other police officers swam to safety after jumping from the boat,
Kamal said.
Police are searching for the missing officers and shooters.
Wednesday’s attack is the latest violence to hit Indonesia’s easternmost
province, which lies on the western half of New Guinea island and has been
the scene of a simmering independence insurgency since it was annexed by
Indonesia in the late 1960s.
Three civilians were killed following shootout that saw suspected rebels
open fire on a small plane carrying 15 police officers at Nduga in the centre
of the province on Monday.
The officers were travelling to oversee polls in which voters cast a
ballot for some 171 mayors, regional leaders and provincial governors across
the Southeast Asian nation.
Days earlier, a pilot on another plane was shot and injured at the same
airport.
In April, an Indonesian soldier and at least one separatist rebel were
killed near US-based firm Freeport McMoRan’s gold and copper mine in Papua.
The huge mine has been a frequent flashpoint in the struggle for Papuan
independence and a bigger share of the region’s rich resources.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1415 hrs