Jakarta, Sept. 18, (dpa/GNA) – Suspected separatist rebels killed a soldier and a civilian in Indonesia’s restive Papua province, the military said Friday.
Insurgents stabbed a motorcycle driver to death with a sickle on Thursday in Intan Jaya district, military spokesman Colonel Gusti Nyoman Suriastawa said.
Later in the day, the group opened fire on soldiers carrying supplies in the same district, killing one, Suriastawa said.
The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), the armed wing of the separatist movement, claimed responsibility for the ambush.
“Sargeant Sahlan was shot and stabbed after Indonesian soldiers withdrew,” spokesman Sebby Sambom said in a statement, referring to the slain soldier.
Sambom did not mention the killing of the motorcycle driver.
Papua has been the scene of a low-level separatist insurgency since the 1960s.
Clashes between separatist rebels and government security forces have intensified after insurgents killed 31 workers who were building a road in Nduga district in December 2018.
GNA