Papua Shooting: Rescue Operation Still Under Way, Wiranto Says

Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister delivers a press statement after a meeting on the Development of the Settlement of Papua Issues at the Office of the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Jakarta, Tuesday (11/12). (Photo by: Kemenko Polhukam).

The Government continues to conduct a joint operation to rescue victims of the shooting incident in Nduga Regency, Papua Province, both at the shooting scene and the surrounding areas, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Wiranto has said.

“We continue to carry out the rescue operation, both at the scene and the surrounding areas because many workers who save themselves were scattered,” Wiranto said after a ministerial limited coordination meeting on the Development of the Settlement of Papua Issues at the Office of the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Jakarta, Tuesday (11/12).

Data from both the National Police (Polri) and the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI) shows that at least 17 people were reportedly killed because of being shot and hacked to death, four people were found alive, and four others are still in search.

“We hope we can find them alive. They are ‘heroes of development’. We managed to evacuate 27 survivors, including construction workers, puskesmas (community health center) employees, Telkom (state-owned telecommunications company) employees, and junior high school employees. They could be saved because they also ran away,” said Wiranto.

Wiranto also clarified an issue mentioning that the TNI used bombs in the search of armed criminal groups. He confirmed that security forces did not use bombs in the operation, but they used throwing grenades instead.

“There is no use of bombs, but we use throwing grenades. For ordinary people, it sounds the same as bombs. However, a bomb is dropped from the air, while throwing grenade is fired from a shotgun. So don’t let there be confusing news circulating,” Wiranto firmly said.

Wiranto went on to say that the Government does not only deploy the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) and the TNI forces stationed in Papua, but also non-organic aid units outside Papua, either the Brimob or the Army’s special forces (Kopassus). “This is needed for a chase operation considering the terrain is very difficult,” Wiranto concluded. (Bureau of Legal, Assembly and Institutional Relations of the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs/EN)

Translated by: Muhardi

Edited by: M. Ersan Pamungkas