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TNI ‘combat ready’ after deadly shoot-out in Papua
Commander to deploy fresh soldiers after one killed, five wounded, four declared missing.
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Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Admiral Yudo Margono (front right) speaks to journalists at a press conference in Timika, Papua, on April 18. (AFP/STR)
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ndonesian Military (TNI) commander Adm. Yudo Margono raised the status of an ongoing rescue operation in Papua to “ground combat ready” on Monday, after at least one soldier was killed in a shootout with armed rebels over the weekend during an attempt to locate a foreign hostage.
The decision comes on the back of Yudo’s visit to Timika, Papua, to conduct a “very thorough evaluation” of the joint National Police-TNI operation to rescue New Zealand national Phillip Mehrtens from his captors on Monday, in light of the higher number of casualties reported on Tuesday.
The operation, dubbed Peaceful Cartenz, took a turn for the worse on Saturday when a firefight broke out between the separatists and a 36-strong squadron combing the dense and hilly jungle of Nduga’s Mugi-Mam area in search of the captured Susi Air pilot.
West Papua Liberation Army (TPNPB) guerillas, who have held Mehrtens hostage since February, took responsibility for the attack, claiming to have killed a dozen soldiers.
But Yudo dismissed the rebels’ account, insisting that just one soldier had been killed in combat. He said five others had sustained injuries and another four were unaccounted for.
According to the TNI chief, the four missing personnel are thought to be hiding in the vicinity of the shootout. He said the military had deployed a support team to locate them, while another squadron was securing the area where one soldier died.
“I just returned from the field to assess the situation after the [firefight]. I saw it for myself and can assure you of the actual situation so we can put all the confusion to bed,” he said during a press conference at the Juanda naval air base in Sidoarjo, East Java, on Tuesday.
