IDNEWSNOW.COM, Jakarta – The Joint Regional Defense Command (Kogabwilhan) on Friday, November 6, reported a casualty and an injury following a shootout between Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) soldiers and local Papuan armed criminal groups.
Command spokesman Colonel Czi I Gusti Nyoman Suriastawa said a soldier, First Pvt. Firdaus, was killed and another injured in the shootout.
“The victim is currently being evacuated,” he said.
He explained the shootout took place in Sugapa District, Intan Jaya, Papua, as two TNI soldiers were patrolling the area.
Two months earlier, two TNI soldiers were killed in a shootout with local armed criminal groups, adding to the list of soldiers killed by criminal groups in the conflict-stricken region.
The bloody encounters between the Indonesian military and armed criminal groups peaked in September as local pastor Yeremia Zanambani was killed on September 19, 2020, prompting the government to mobilize a fact-finding team (TGPF) to conduct further investigation into the incident.
Read: TNI Investigates Alleged Soldier Involvement in Death of Papuan Pastor
EGI ADYATAMA
