BY ALFIAN KARTONO

Updated 9:31 PM AEDT, October 2, 2023

JAYAPURA, Indonesia (AP) — Five Papuan independence fighters were killed in a clash between security forces and a rebel group in Indonesia’s restive Papua region, police and rebels said Monday.

A joint military and police force killed the five fighters from the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, in a battle on Saturday with dozens of rebels armed with military-grade weapons and arrows in the hilly Serambakon village in Papua Highland province, said Faizal Ramadhani, a national police member who heads the joint security force.

Security forces seized two assault rifles, a pistol, several arrows, two mobile phones, cash, more than 300 rounds of ammunition and a “morning star” flag — a separatist symbol — after the clash, Ramadhani said.

Rebels in Papua have been fighting a low-level insurgency since the early 1960s, when Indonesia annexed the region, a former Dutch colony.

Papua was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a U.N.-sponsored ballot that was widely seen as a sham. Since then, the insurgency has simmered in the region, which was divided into five provinces last year to boost development in Indonesia’s poorest region.

Sebby Sambom, a spokesman for the liberation army, confirmed the police claim but said that losing five fighters “would not make us surrender.”

“They were the national heroes of the Papuan people,” Sambom said in a statement provided to The Associated Press on Monday. “They died in defending the Papuan people from extinction due to the crimes of the Indonesian military and police who are acting as terrorists.”

The rebels in February stormed a single-engine plane shortly after it landed on a small runway in Paro and abducted its pilot. The plane initially was scheduled to pick up 15 construction workers from other Indonesian islands after the rebels threatened to kill them.

The kidnapping of the pilot was the second that independence fighters have committed since 1996, when the rebels abducted 26 members of a World Wildlife Fund research mission in Mapenduma. Two Indonesians in that group were killed by their abductors, but the remaining hostages were eventually freed within five months.

The pilot kidnapping reflects the deteriorating security situation in Indonesia’s easternmost region of Papua, a former Dutch colony in the western part of New Guinea that is ethnically and culturally distinct from much of Indonesia.

Saturday’s fighting was the latest in a series of violent incidents in recent years in Papua, where conflicts between indigenous Papuans and Indonesian security forces are common.

Data collected by Amnesty International Indonesia showed at least 179 civilians, 35 Indonesian troops and nine police, along with 23 independence fighters, were killed in clashes between rebels and security forces between 2018 and 2022.

___

Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

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Five Members of TPNB KODAP XXXV Fell In The Battlefield Of Oxibile And Komnas TNPB Announces National Grief.

Shared by: Sebby Sambom (Jubir KOMNAS TNPB)

Press Release of the Management of the TPNB Komnas Headquarters as of October 2, 2023

Goodbye Patriots of Papuan, and rest in peace (RIP).

The Management of the TNPB Komnas Headquarters has Received a confirmation report from the Commander of the TPNB Kodap XXXV East Star on today Monday 2 October 2023 that 5 members of the TNPP have fallen in the battlefield, in the area of Serambakon District, Pegunungan Bintang Region due to being shot by Terrorist Forces which are members of the Army and the Police.

We also received reports that these 5 fallen TNPB members have been mutilated like animals, therefore the TNI police did not publish photos and videos of our members that they shot dead.

Therefore, we inform the international community and the UN that the Indonesian Military and Police are real terrorists (the Indonesian military and police are real terrorists in West Papua).

Thus, on today Monday 2 October 2023 we officially announce national mourning, for 5 members of the TNPB who fell in the battlefield. And it needs to be known by all components of Papuan people that they are the National Heroes of Papuan nation, because they failed in defending and saving Papuan nation from extinction due to the Military crimes and Police of Indonesia who are truly terrorists.

Please follow the report from TPNB Kodap XXXV Eastern Star below!

The chronology of the fall of 5 members of the TPNB commandos of the 35 east star defense area.

At star mountain region papua

The place where the 5 members of the TNPB fellows in the district of Mount Bintang, SERAMBAKON DISTRICT, in MODUSIT VILLAGE

Chronology

========

On Saturday, September 30, 2023

Fasting time : 5:00

Places. At : modusit village.

Troops while sleeping one of the houses in the forest in modusit village

At star mountain papua

After that

TNI entered the house where the TNPB troops slept, then attacked with snipers, basoka, and other weapons

After being paralyzed,

Grab

Weapons belonging to TPNB Komado of 35 east star defense area.

= . 2 long barrel gun barrel

=. 1 piece pistol

=. Ammunition or bullets about 300 more, cellphone 2 pieces, 1 Pajar star flag, money ETC.

After that, THE VICTIMS ARE CUT IN PIECES BY THE ARMY, JOINT POLICE

AND FOR A WHILE THE VICTIMS HAVEN’T BEEN EVALUATED BECAUSE

THE COMBINATED ARMY AND POLICE

STILL ON WATCH 1 FOR EVACUATION,

THEN IT IS NOT FOR A WHILE

EVACUATE.

And names2

Name-name. TNPB member who fell in battlefield

AS FOLLOWS:

1. 1st battalion commander shows off in name. : this is the BUS BABY.

gender type. : man Religion : protestant Christians

2. KODAP intel Deputy Commander by Name. : HERE COMES TO MIMIN.

SEX TYPE. : Male

Relieved. : protesting Christians

3. TOP NAME : OTTO KASIPKA

gender. : Male

Relieved. : Protest

4. IN NAME :ALEXS LEPKI

gender. : Male

Relieved. : Protest

5. In the name :TARKUS AKMER.

gender. : Male

Relieved. : Protest

Evidence and photo we can not confirm yet.

Because Medan is dominated by

THE COMBINATED ARMY, POLICE.

So

The chronology of events

On the battlefield

Saturday 30th of September 2023.

Thus is the press broadcast of the Management of the Commnasium Headquarters of TPNPPB, and thank you for the good cooperation.

Forwarded to all parties by Jubir Komnas TPNB Sebby Sambom,