Soldier wounded as shootings continue in Timika: Police
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | National | Thu, October 22 2009, 10:35 AM
A military soldier is being treated in Timika, Papua after wounded in another shooting by unidentified gunmen near US mining company PT Freeport Indonesia, police confirmed Thursday.
“The victim was wounded on his thigh and is currently treated at Mitra Masyarakat Hospital in Timika,” Papua Police chied Insp. Gen. Bagus Ekodanto told Antara news agency in Jayapura.
Bagus said that the soldier was wounded when a joint patrol unit was ambushed by gunmen in Kali Kopi in mile 32 area in Timika on Wednesday.
Bagus said that the police and the military are still doing joint patrols in the area. He had said earlier that they were having difficulty with the terrain in the area where the shootings occurred.
Two miners were wounded when three security-escorted buses were ambushed between mile 41 and mile 42 of a road leading to the Grasberg mine, the world's largest gold and copper mine on Tuesday.
The area is notorious for ambushes. Earlier this year, a 29-year-old Australian, an Indonesian security guard working for Freeport and a policeman were killed in separate attacks. In 2002, two American teachers and their Indonesian colleague were killed on the same stretch of road.
