T

he National Police and the Army have deployed officers to investigate a recent series of attacks in the vicinity of PT Freeport Indnonesia's Grasberg gold and copper mine in Papua.

National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the Police and Army have started to comb the area around the site of the attacks.

"We are working on the crime scene to collect more evidence and are pursuing the insurgents," he said.

A total of 60 additional personnel - including officers from the Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob), the Densus 88 antiterrorism unit and the forensic laboratory - have been sent to Papua.

However, Bambang did not elaborate on the number of extra Army personnel deployed to the area.

He said forensic investigators were still examining fragments of bullets used in the attacks, which appear to be consistent with those used by the Police and the Army.

"We should not take wild guesses and better wait for the examination to be completed. You all are aware that similar bullets can also be used in homemade weapons," he added, referring to the three empty shells found at the crime scene.

The police have been working with their Australian counterparts in the investigation of the incident.

Papua Police Chief Insp. Gen. FX Bagus Ekodanto said that 14 people have so far been questioned in relation to the shootings. However, he acknowledged police have yet to come to a conclusion as to who is responsible for the attacks.

Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial) has urged the government to seriously investigate the weekend's attacks and not immediately jump to the conclusion that the Organisasi Papua Merdeka (Free Papua Movement aka OPM) in responsible.

"We ask security forces not to so hastily place the blame on the OPM before it is legally proven," Imparsial's director of external relations, Poengky Indarti, told a press conference.

The police have named OPM leader Kelly Kwalik as the suspected mastermind of the attacks.

Imparsial has recorded several incidents in Timika since the July 8 presidential election including the torching of a Freeport bus on July 8, the shooting of a vehicle belonging to the Tembagapura Police on July 10, and this weekends shootings, which have left dead Australian Freeport employee Drew Nicholas Grant and Second Brig. Marson Freddy Pattipeilohy of the police, who was found dead at the bottom of a ravine on July 13.

Commenting on the string of incidents, intelligence expert Dino Chrisbon said he suspected regional welfare issues were driving the attackers.

He added that the government has failed to ensure the welfare of Papuans, leading to widespread discontent with Jakarta in the resource rich but underdeveloped province.

"As long as the government fails to make a significant improvements in people's welfare in Papua, we will most likely face continuous terror and sporadic attacks," he said.

"There is no other way for the government to solve the problem then to show to the world that it means business in improving welfare in Papua," he added.