T

he Papua Police and Jayapura City Police confiscated 150 live bullets and arrested two people believed to be the owners of ammunition in Jayapura on Tuesday.

The ammunition was seized at boarding house in Abepura at around 6:30 a.m. Police brought four persons from the house to the Papua Police headquarters, but three of them were released. One individual, identified as ID, 23, was held for further questioning.

Police then arrested a man identified as RW at around 4 p.m. in Jayapura and immediately brought him to the Jayapura City Police headquarters.

Jayapura City Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Alfred Papare said both men were being questioned in order to determine why they had the ammunition and where they had obtained it.

The central government warned it would take all necessary measures to locate those responsible for the recent shootings in Papua.

The government said that its heavy-handed response to recent shootings in Papua should not be misconstrued as a human rights violation, and risks had to be taken in locating the perpetrators.

The government claimed to have been working hard to uphold peace in Papua, but said all of its efforts had been destroyed by unidentified shooters, who it was now working to bring to justice.

Meanwhile, members of a joint police and Indonesian Military (TNI) operation have also been on hunt for the perpetrators behind a series of attacks in Poso, a predominantly Christian regency in Central Sulawesi.

On Oct. 28, they found a homemade bomb ready to be detonated in Tamanjeka hamlet, Poso.

Poso Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Eko Santoso confirmed the finding on Tuesday. According to Eko, members of the Central Sulawesi Police’s bomb squad were able to defuse and dismantle the high-powered explosive. “I don’t know whether or not it was a mine. The team has taken it to the forensics lab for analysis. But the bomb was certainly ready to be detonated,” said Eko.

Not far from the location lies an area touted as the Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) headquarters, called Gunung Biru and Lembah Hitam.

No settlement is found there other than a mosque and a three-story school building called Darul Anshari Tauhid Islamic boarding school (pesantren). The second floor is used for teaching, while the third floor is the office of JAT, which is believed to be behind recent terror attacks in Poso.

Between 1997 and 2001, Poso was rocked by bloody sectarian clashes between Christians and Muslims that claimed at least 1,000 lives and displaced 25,000.

Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Dewa Parsana said on Tuesday that even though further special operations would be carried out in the next two days, the initial operation had already been completed.

“The operation has been carried out. We will be assisted by two companies from the Kelapa Dua Mobile Brigade [Brimob] in Jakarta. They will immediately join forces with those who are currently on standby,” said Dewa.