Jakarta, 16 Apr. The West Papuan separatist group that has held a New Zealand pilot kidnapped since February 7 in the Indonesian area of the island of New Guinea, assured this Sunday that it has killed nine Indonesian soldiers in retaliation for not having received a response to its proposal to peace.
“Two months have passed (since the kidnapping) and Indonesia and New Zealand have not responded to our letters,” said a statement today from the Free Papua Movement, which represents various separatist militias, including the one claiming responsibility for the kidnapping, the Army of West Papua National Liberation (TPNPB).
According to the statement, which did not provide information on the status of the kidnapped pilot, the TPNPB shot dead nine soldiers from the Indonesian armed forces on Saturday in Yal (in the Nduga district), located in Papua Highlands, one of the six provinces into which “Indonesian Papua” is divided, which separatists refer to as “West Papua”.
Rich in natural resources, Indonesian or West Papua is now part of Indonesia and is located on the island of New Guinea, the eastern part of which belongs to Papua New Guinea.
The New Zealand pilot Philip Mark Mehrtens has been there in captivity since February 7, when he landed with a plane from the local company Susi Air with five passengers – who were released – at a remote airport in the Nduga district.
The Free Papua Movement also claims it is acting “in revenge” for an Indonesian military operation in West Papua on March 23, which it claims left three dead, two members of the TPNPB and a pregnant woman.
“We are still at war. Today, Sunday, the (Indonesian) Army has launched an air strike,” added his spokesman, Sebby Sambon, in another statement.
On March 10, Mehrtens himself communicated the demands of the separatists in a video released by his kidnappers, in which he stated: “I will be released once Papua is independent.”
“I have been ordered – he added – to make a statement. Foreign pilots are not allowed to work and fly in Papua until it is independent. The UN is urged to mediate between Papua and Indonesia for its independence. They will release me when Papua is independent”.
West Papua has been the scene of a low-intensity armed conflict between the central Indonesian state and secessionist movements since the region came under control of Jakarta in 1969.
The separatists have indicated that it is the first kidnapping after an incident in 1996, when they abducted 26 members of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), including four British and two Dutch, in the same area.
On that occasion, some hostages were freed by the guerrillas and others were released after an armed confrontation with Indonesian soldiers that ended with the death of eight rebels and two hostages, in addition to five soldiers. EFE
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