JAKARTA (Reuters) – Rebels in Indonesia’s Papua region said on Thursday they have killed more than 17 people since the weekend, claiming that they were soldiers in disguise as gold miners, and police said the insurgents were holding two hostages.
A low-level but increasingly deadly battle for independence has simmered between security forces and rebels in resource-rich Papua ever since it was controversially brought under Indonesian control in a vote overseen by the United Nations in 1969.
Sebby Sambom, a Papuan rebel spokesperson, said in a statement on Thursday the rebels had killed more than 17 people since April 6, including five on Wednesday, and claimed they were military members disguised as gold miners.
“If the Indonesian government military wants to chase us, please come to Dekai town, we are in the town,” Sebby said, referring to a town in Yahukimo district, where the incident took place.
Faizal Ramadhani, a senior police official who is the chief of the peace task force in Papua, confirmed the rebel attack to Reuters on Thursday. He said police have yet to confirm a death toll as officers are still on the way to the area.
Indonesia’s national military denied the people killed by rebels were their officers, adding this was a hoax, its spokesperson was quoted by state news agency Antara as saying.
Separately, police said in a statement on Thursday that 35 people in the area were evacuated to another district, while two residents are allegedly still being held hostage by the rebels.
Rebels in Papua have in recent years managed to acquire better weapons, taken in raids on army posts or sourced from the black market. They have also abducted foreigners, including a New Zealand pilot who was released last year after being held for 19 months.
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto and Ananda Teresia; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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