Activists protest in Jakarta against killings in Papua, where a low-level insurgency has been simmering for decades. (Photo: AFP)
A medical worker was shot dead and another seriously wounded in an attack in Indonesia’s Papua province blamed on armed separatists.
The pair, who were affiliated to the country’s Covid-19 task force, were attacked in remote Intan Jaya district while delivering coronavirus medical supplies, police said.
Eniko Somou, 39, was killed while Amalek Bagau, 30, was critically injured, Papua police spokesman Senior Commissioner Ahmad Mustofa Kamal told UCA News on May 25.
Kamal said a joint team consisting of policemen and soldiers was hunting the attackers.
The Free Papua Movement separatist group denied responsibility for the shooting and accused security forces of being behind the attack.
“The perpetrators were policemen and military personnel. They were responsible. Indonesia must take the responsibility,” the group’s spokesman Sebby Sambo told online news portal Tempo.Co.
Condemning the incident, Sacred Heart Father Anselmus Amo, who heads Merauke Archdiocese’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission, called for an independent investigation to determine who was responsible.
"We need to see justice served in this case because those who work for humanity cannot be subjected to such attacks,” he said.
