Indonesia attempts to recover bodies of 31 construction workers executed by separatist rebels in remote region of Papua
- Killings reportedly carried out by rebels who have led a decades-long insurgency against Jakarta’s rule
- Papua declared itself an independent nation in 1961 but neighbouring Indonesia took control of the region by force in 1963
Security forces tried to recover the bodies of 31 construction workers and a soldier who were killed in one of the worst separatist attacks in Indonesia’s restive province of Papua, officials said on Tuesday.
The killings mark the deadliest bout of violence in years to hit the region, which has long been at the centre of a low-level independence insurgency.
Papua police spokesman Suryadi Diaz said 24 workers were killed on Sunday when gunmen stormed a government bridge construction project in a remote mountainous village in Nduga district, on the western half of New Guinea island.
Eight other workers fled to the nearby house of a local parliament member, but an armed group came a day later and killed seven of them, Diaz said, citing reports from several witnesses. The eighth managed to escape and remains missing.
Diaz said security forces were trying to recover all 31 bodies but they were scattered and guarded by gunmen in the district, a stronghold of separatists who have battled Indonesian rule in the impoverished region for nearly 50 years.