Officials of Indonesia said on Thursday that 18 separatist people and three civilians were killed by Indonesia’s military during an operation it its easternmost region of Papua.
According to the military spokesperson in a statement, the military seized dozens of munitions, including an assault rifle, bows and arrows and an unspecified homemade weapon during Wednesday’s operation.
A spokesperson for the Papua separatists did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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According to local church accounts, three civilians were killed in a shootout between rebels and soldiers. Nearly 1000 people have been evacuated. Ronald Rischard, the president of the group’s Papua branch, told reporters that the attack occurred while locals asleep and urged the country’s rights organisation to conduct its own investigation.
“This has become a cycle of violence,” he added, denouncing collateral harm to civilians such as a child’s ear being blasted by a bullet, though he said it is unknown who fired the shot.
Rebels have waged a low-level fight for independence in the resource-rich Papua province bordering Papua New Guinea since 1969, when the area was controversially transferred to Indonesian administration after Dutch rule in a United Nations-supervised vote.
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Foreigners have been kidnapped by the rebels, notably a party of 26 wildlife researchers in 1996 and a New Zealand pilot who was freed this year after being kept captive for 19 months. Last month, the rebels claimed they had slain over 17 persons, claiming they were troops dressed as gold miners. According to the statement, the Indonesian military has placed forces in the region of Wednesday’s operation to anticipate actions by surviving rebels.
