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View all search resultsRebels in Papua region kill 8, military says
The miners were attacked while working in the far-flung district of Yahukimo, Papua Pegunungan province on Wednesday, military spokesman Lt. Col. Wirya Arthadiguna said in a statement.
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On the way: Troops of the Sriwijaya Military Command infantry battalion march past on July 21, 2024 after a ceremony at Boom Baru Port in Palembang, South Sumatra, to mark the deployment of soldiers to the border with Papua New Guinea. (Antara/Nova Wahyudi)
S
eparatists in eastern Papua region have shot and killed eight gold miners they claimed were undercover members of the security forces, the military said Thursday.
The miners were attacked while working in the far-flung district of Yahukimo, Papua Pegunungan province on Wednesday, military spokesman Lt. Col. Wirya Arthadiguna said in a statement.
The victims, he said, were "civilians panning for gold in the area".
The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), however, said it had carried out a successful "cleansing operation" against "soldiers/police officers disguised as illegal gold miners".
TPNPB spokesman Sebby Sambom said the operation was in retaliation for the deaths of two of its members at the hands of the military in Yahukimo last week.
Wirya said the military has deployed teams to track down the shooters and evacuate the victims' bodies by helicopter.
He denied the rebels' claim that they were security officers, and said authorities are on the hunt for the perpetrators. After the attacks, Yahukimo was dangerous but under control, he added.
Security in the area will be stepped up, he added.
Papua, which shares an island with Papua New Guinea, is a former Dutch colony that declared independence in 1961.
Last year, separatists killed at least 11 gold miners in Yahukimo, according to the military, in another case in which the targets were accused of being undercover soldiers.
In 2022, 10 civilians were shot dead in a rebel ambush, and eight telecoms workers were killed in another attack in what the guerrillas said was a war zone.
The National Commission on Human Rights is investigating the killing of more than a dozen civilians, including women and children, in a military operation in the Papuan village of Kembru in April.
The military claimed it had taken out rebel fighters.
