New Zealand helicopter pilot killed in attack in Indonesia’s restive Papua region
- The killing comes nearly 18 months after the abduction by separatists of another pilot from New Zealand, who remains in captivity.
Gunmen stormed a helicopter and killed its New Zealand pilot shortly after it landed in Indonesia’s restive Papua region on Monday, and they released two health workers and two children it was carrying, police said.
Glen Malcolm Conning, a pilot for Indonesian aviation company PT Intan Angkasa Air Service, was shot to death by gunmen allegedly with the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, after landing in Alama, a remote village in Mimika district of Central Papua province, said Faizal Ramadhani, a National Police member who heads the joint security peace force in Papua.
He said the gunmen released the Indigenous Papuan passengers and set fire to the plane.
“All passengers were safe because they were local residents of Alama village,” said Ramadhani, adding that the village is in a mountainous district which can be reached only by helicopter.
A joint security force was deployed to search for the attackers, who ran into the dense jungle.
West Papua Liberation Army spokesperson Sebby Sambom said that he had not received any reports from fighters on the ground about the killing.