Anggota Brimob Tewas Ditembak KKB di Papua Disorot Dunia
Indonesia Police Say 1 Officer Killed in Papua Mine Attack
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
KELOMPOK kriminal bersenjata (KKB) menembak hingga tewas seorang anggota polisi pada Rabu dalam serangan terakhir yang diduga dilakukan oleh kelompok separatis di dekat pertambangan emas dan tembaga Freeport di bagian timur Papua.
Petugas lainnya terluka dalam serangan terhadap polisi yang sedang berpatroli di dekat tambang milik Phoenix, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. yang berbasis di Arizona, kata Kabid Humas Polda Papua, Kombes Ahmad Musthofa Kamal.
Ketegangan di wilayah tersebut berkobar sejak bulan lalu. Kelompok separatis Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) mengklaim kawasan dekat tambang Freeport sebagai medan tempur dengan pasukan keamanan Indonesia dan pekan lalu mereka menduduki dua desa.
Seorang anggot Brimob Polri tewas dan enam lainnya luka-luka dalam serangan bulan lalu.
Aksi bersenjata dari kelompok separatis yang menuntut kemerdekaan berlangsung sejak Papua direbut Indonesia dari Belanda pada 1963. Wilayah yang terbentang di bagian barat Pulau Papua, masuk wilayah RI pada 1969 setelah dilakukan pemungutan suara oleh para kepala suku yang disponsori PBB.
Indonesia meningkatkan pengamanan di wilayah tersebut dan membatasi wartawan asing untuk masuk ke Papua.
Tambang Freeport kerap mendapat serangan sporadis, seperti penghadangan dan blokade sejak dekade 70an.
Polisi pada Rabu mengatakan telah terjadi hampir 20 serangan bersenjata di dekat tambang tersebut sejak Agustus, menewaskan total tiga orang dan melukai 12 lainnya seperti dikutip Associated Press yang dilansir MailOnline.
GUNMEN shot and killed an Indonesian police officer Wednesday in the latest suspected attack by separatists near a giant gold and copper mine in easternmost Papua.
Another officer was wounded in the attack on a patrol near the mine owned by Phoenix, Arizona-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., said Papua police spokesman Ahmad Musthofa Kamal.
Tensions in the region have flared in the past month. Members of the National Liberation Army of West Papua have declared an area near the mine a battlefield with Indonesian security forces and last week stationed fighters in two villages.
One paramilitary police officer was killed and six others wounded in attacks last month.
A low-level insurgency for independence has simmered in Papua since it was transferred from Dutch to Indonesian rule in 1963. The region, which makes up the western half of the island of New Guinea, was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 following a U.N.-sponsored ballot of tribal leaders that has since been dismissed as a sham.
Indonesia maintains a heavy security presence in the region and restricts foreign journalists from reporting there.
The Freeport mine has periodically suffered arson, roadside attacks and blockades since operations began in the 1970s.
Police on Wednesday said there have been nearly 20 gun attacks near the mine since August, killing a total of three people and wounding 12.
