The Indonesian defense minister has called for a crackdown on West Papuan rebel fighters amid ongoing deaths from armed conflict in the Melanesian region.
Ryamizard Ryacudu was speaking after Papuan rebels this week abducted and killed a policeman in Puncak Jaya regency.
Photo: AFP
It comes amid protracted violence between the West Papua National Liberation Army and Indonesian security forces in Papua's highlands.
Violence escalated since last December when the Liberation Army killed as many as 19 workers on the Trans-Papua Road project in Nduga regency.
The state news agency Antara reports the minister saying the rebels must be crushed, as they can't just kill people with reckless abandon.
West Papua Liberation Army unit, led by Egianus Kogoya. Derakma, Nduga regency, Papua. March 2019 Photo: Supplied
Following last December's massacre, Indonesia promptly dispatched around 150 police and soldiers to the region, and a further 600 soldiers in March, in pursuit of the Liberation Army's guerilla fighters.
The increased presence of Indonesian military in the regency, and raids on villages, have sparked mass displacement of Papuan villagers.
While the Indonesian forces have largely asserted control of public spaces, Papuan guerillas have continued to launch deadly attacks from the bush.
The police officer, identified as Heidar, was found dead from gunshot wounds on Monday in Puncak after negotiations with his abductors failed, according to Senior Commissioner Ahmad Musthofa Kamal, a spokesman for police in Papua.
Indonesian National Armed Forces carrying a coffin of a fallen fellow soldier. Three Indonesian soldiers were reportedly killed by the West Papuan Liberation Army in Nduga regency on March 7th, 2019 Photo: Tempo
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, a team monitoring the humanitarian situation in Nduga urged Indonesia's government to pull troops out of the regency.
Tens of thousands of Nduga residents fled their villages due to the increased military operations in the area - at least 182 people have died of hunger and disease after fleeing.
Theo Hasegem, director of the Papuan Justice and Unity and a member of the humanitarian team, said that from the outset they had called on the government to withdraw the troops because it is civilians who are harmed.
He urged the government to open Nduga to journalists, church workers and human rights observers so they could see "the truth".
