Jakarta, April 20, (dpa/GNA) – The Indonesian military has recovered the bodies of four soldiers who were killed by separatist rebels, while searching for a New Zealand citizen taken hostage by insurgents.
The pilot has been held hostage by the insurgents in Indonesia’s troubled Papua region, for more than two months.
The soldiers were part of a 36-member unit who were ambushed by armed rebels in the Nduga area on Saturday, said Julius Widjojono, spokesman for the Indonesian Armed Forces.
Another soldier was still missing, said Widjojono, adding that the bodies were flown to Mimika, a town about 100 kilometres from Nduga.
The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) said it killed 15 government soldiers in the jungle skirmish.
Rebels torched a small plane operated by local carrier Susi Air and seized its pilot, Philip Mehrtens, in Nduga on February 7.
The TPNPB, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), warned this week that it would keep attacking unless Indonesia agreed to peace talks with UN mediation.
Its spokesman, Sebby Sambom, said on Thursday that Mehrtens was “safe and in good health.”
The OPM seeks independence from Indonesia. Papua, in the western half of New Guinea, has seen separatist unrest since the 1960s.
GNA