2023-04-17 09:47:00
In the Indonesian region of Papua, fighting broke out between rebels and the army following a New Zealand pilot was kidnapped. According to Archyde.com, the rebel group Papua National Liberation Army claims to have killed nine military personnel on Saturday.
According to CNN, there were even 13. The Indonesian army, on the other hand, speaks of a soldier who was killed while searching for the pilot.
There is no information regarding other deaths, said a military spokesman on Sunday followingnoon (local time) in Jakarta. However, communication in the area is difficult, “especially in the changeable weather”.
The military will intensify its efforts to rescue the kidnapped pilot, the spokesman said, according to the Archyde.com news agency.
“We have asked the Indonesian and New Zealand governments to free the hostages through peaceful negotiations. But the Indonesian military and police attacked civilians on March 23, »says a rebel spokesman on Sunday.
The rebels then decided to take revenge. “And that has already begun,” says the spokesman. According to him, the fighting is said to have continued on Sunday.
The military has denied allegations of targeting civilians. The armed forces are more likely to protect civilians who have been chased away by the rebels.
The Indonesian-ruled region of Papua in the western half of New Guinea has been the scene of separatist uprisings since the 1960s. The province was annexed to Indonesia in 1969 in a United Nations-sponsored vote.
For years there have been repeated violent conflicts in the resource-rich region. The east of the island north of Australia is the independent country of Papua New Guinea.
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