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Associated Press

Rebels in Indonesia’s Papua province have demanded that the government hold negotiations on their territory’s self-determination and warned of more attacks following a raid on a construction site that left at least 16 dead.
An insurgency has simmered in Papua since the early 1960s, when Indonesia annexed the region that was a former Dutch colony. It was formally incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a UN-sponsored ballot that was widely regarded as a sham.

Sebby Sambom, spokesman for the West Papua National Liberation Army, the military wing of the Free Papua Movement, said in a telephone interview on Friday that they attacked a government construction site last weekend because they believe the project is being conducted by the military.


Security forces have retrieved the bodies of 16 workers hired to build bridges on a section of the trans-Papua road, police spokesman Suryadi Diaz said.
Authorities believe the armed group killed 19 workers, based on the accounts of survivors. They have rescued 24, including seven workers, and are searching for two missing as well as the bodies of three others. A soldier at a military post near the site was also killed.

Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has ordered the military and police to arrest the perpetrators of the worst separatist attack during his administration and said he will not tolerate “armed criminals” in Papua or the rest of the country.
We want them to know that we don’t need development, what we want is independence
Sebby Sambom, separatist leader
He said the attack will not dissuade his government from continuing to develop Papua, including the 4,600-kilometre trans-Papua road, which his administration has claimed is widely supported by local people.
The road, which will stretch from Sorong in West Papua province to Merauke in Papua province, is expected to be completed next year and help boost economic development in both provinces.
“Trans-Papua road projects are being carried out by Indonesian military and that is a risk they must bear,” Sambom said. “We want them to know that we don’t need development, what we want is independence.”
Indonesia’s government, which for decades had a policy of sending Javanese and other Indonesians to settle in Papua to dilute the number of indigenous people, is now trying to spur economic development to dampen the separatist movement.

“Our leaders have declared a war zone since last year and warned that the trans-Papua road construction should be stopped, but Indonesia has ignored it,” Sambom said.
He called for the government to agree to peace talks similar to ones that led to another province, Aceh, becoming semi-autonomous, or a “real referendum” on independence as occurred in the former Indonesian territory of East Timor.
“If Aceh and East Timor can get that opportunity, why don’t we?” said Sambom, who said he was speaking from an area near the border with neighbouring Papua New Guinea.


National police chief Tito Karnavian estimated the strength of the armed group at not more than 50 people with about 20 weapons, and said more than 150 police and soldiers had been sent to restore security in Nduga district, a stronghold of the separatists.
Sambom, however, claimed the rebels have 29 operational area commands in Papua, each with 2,500 members.
“We vow to intensify our fight for independence with guerilla hit-and-run attacks,” he said.



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Indonesia

Separatists who killed at least 16 demand Indonesia negotiate over Papuan independence

Indonesian soldiers carry a body bag containing a victim of the separatist attack in Nduga district. Photo: AP

Santi Sirait, whose son was killed in a massacre by suspected separatist rebels, grieves following the arrival of his coffin in Sei Belutu village in Serdang Bedagai, North Sumatra province on December 8, 2018. - The massacre of civilian workers by separatist rebels in Indonesia's restive Papua province has cast the spotlight on one of the world's longest-running independence insurgencies, with no end to the bloody conflict in sight. (Photo by IVAN DAMANIK / AFP) / TO GO WITH Indonesia-papua-conflict, FOCUS by Harry PEARL

Sebby Sambom

Indonesian President Joko Widodo speaks to the media about the deaths of construction workers after a shooting in the country's easternmost province of Papua, at the palace in Jakarta, Indonesia December 5, 2018 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Wahyu Putro A/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. INDONESIA OUT.

+++ INDONESIA OUT +++ JKT04-19960516-GESSELEMA, IRIAN JAYA, Indonesia: This photograph taken 26 February shows the 12 hostages held by the Free Papua Organisation (OPM) in Indonesia's eastermost province of Irian Jaya. They are: Briton William Oates (Back row L, released 15 May), Briton Daniel Start (back row, 2nd from L, released 15 May), Indonesian Navy Panekenan (Back row 3rd from L, slashed to death by abductors 15 May), Martha Klein of Holland (back row 2nd from R, released15 May), Marc Van Der Wal of Holland (back row R, released 15 May), Indonesian Yosias Mathias Lasamahu (middle row 2nd from L, slashed to death by abductors 15 May), Briton Ana McIvor (middle row 3rd from L, released 15 May), Indonesian Abraham Wanggai (middle row R, released 16 March), Indonesian Marcus Warip (sitting L, released 15 May), Briton Annette Van Der Kolk (sitting 2nd from L, released 15 May), Indonesian Adinda Saraswati (sitting 3rd from R, released 15 May), Indonesian Jualita Tanasale (sitting 2nd

Indonesian separatists brace for ‘swift and deadly’ retribution after up to 31 people were killed in remote West Papua district

Indonesian soldiers walk towards a helicopter headed for Nduga district in Papua province. Photo: Reuters

In this picture taken on December 4, 2018 shows family members of killing in Nduga play a photograph on their smartphone showing one of victim, in Wamena, Papua province. - Indonesian soldiers hunted for rebels suspected of killing a group of construction workers in restive Papua province, the military said, as they supplied one survivor's account of a grisly mass execution. (Photo by ANYONG / AFP)

Benny Wanda

epa07211648 Indonesian military personnel escort a survivor of a shooting through an airport in Timika, Papua, Indonesia, 06 December 2018. According to media reports, Indonesian authorities recovered 16 victims bodies after they were killed during an attack by a separatist armed group on a government bridge construction project at the remote village in Nduga district. EPA-EFE/WAWA KHATULISTIWA

epa07200896 Papuan students shout during a protest in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, 01 December 2018. Dozens of West Papuan activists staged a rally calling for the nationalization of the Indonesian unit of the US-based mining company Freeport-McMoRan Copper Gold Inc., and demanded the right to self-determination for West Papua. EPA-EFE/FULLY HANDOKO

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Asia

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An insurgency has simmered in Papua since the early 1960s, when Indonesia annexed the region that was a former Dutch colony


Terrorism

Crime

Separatists who killed at least 16 demand Indonesia negotiate over Papuan independence

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}An insurgency has simmered in Papua since the early 1960s, when Indonesia annexed the region that was a former Dutch colony

An insurgency has simmered in Papua since the early 1960s, when Indonesia annexed the region that was a former Dutch colony