T

he situation in Ilaga, the capital of Puncak regency in Papua, remained tense following the deaths of two Papua Police'€™s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) members who were shot as they assisted a church congregation with Christmas preparations at a church on Wednesday.

'€œI'€™ve just received reports that the situation in Ilaga after the incident remains tense, as security personnel are on guard. Residents are in a state of fear and they prefer to remain at home. Some of them gathered at government offices while waiting for the situation to improve,'€ said Puncak regency council member Penilus Balinal in Jayapura on Wednesday.

Pelinus expressed hope the Papua Police would immediately deploy personnel to the area to secure the situation so residents could go about their daily activities and the administration could resume its duties, failing which the situation would worsen and the lives of more people would be at stake.

Tensions increased after security personnel set fire to traditional Honai homes in the city as they searched for the perpetrators.

The shooting took place when Brimob officers Second Adj. Insp. Thomson Siahaan and Second Brig. Everson were arranging chairs for Christmas preparations together with the Paniai GKI church congregation in Ilaga at around
9:30 a.m.

'€œWhen they were helping to arrange the chairs and set up the tent in front of the church, they were shot and killed on the spot by an armed group,'€ said Papua Police chief spokesman Sr. Comr. Pudjo Sulistyo in Jayapura.

According to Pudjo, Thomson was shot in the chest and leg, while Everson was shot in the head.

Their bodies have been taken to the Ilaga community health clinic and will be moved to the Papua Police Brimob headquarters in Jayapura on Thursday.

Papua Police deputy chief Brig. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw and police officials will leave for Ilaga, to observe the situation in the city.

Waterpauw expressed regret over the incident as his men were helping youths at the church to prepare for a Christmas event slated for Wednesday at 5 p.m. local time.

'€œWe will pursue the attackers and catch them, dead or alive. Their behavior is inhumane,'€ he said.

Waterpauw added that his personnel were all ordered to promote and uphold basic human rights, but instead two of them had now become victims of violence at the hands of armed civilians.

'€œThis matter should be discussed to prevent personnel from acting hesitantly and becoming victims instead,'€ emphasized Waterpauw.

Besides killing the two Brimob personnel, the armed civilian group also seized two AK assault rifles that the victims were carrying and fled into the woods.

The situation in Ilaga, said Waterpauw, was improving and security personnel were conducting investigations by speaking to witnesses who saw the incident.

Earlier in August, two police officers were shot dead by an unidentified group in Lanny Jaya regency, Papua.

The police and military suspected the shooting was conducted by the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM).

In response to the shooting, the military launched a hunt for the group and shot dead four members.

In May this year, another police officer was shot dead in Lanny Jaya.

The shooting was also believed to be committed by the OPM.

Some Papua councilors expressed regret at the continuing violence in the province and said they could not inspect the locations due to the remoteness of the areas.