Jakarta – Indonesian police fired warning shots in eastern Irian Jaya province on Wednesday to disperse an angry mob which attacked a police headquarters after the death of a pro-independence student, police said.

Irian Jaya police chief Brig. Gen. S.Y. Wenas said about 1,500 protesters attacked the headquarters in the coastal town of Nabire, some 3,225 kilometers east of Jakarta.

"They were armed with machetes, bows and arrows and police had to fire warning shots into the air," Wenas said from capital Jayapura. He said one person was shot and wounded in the incident.

It was the second violent incident in the town in recent days. On Monday, one student was shot dead during clashes between independence supporters and police. Police denied responsibility. No other information was available. Telephone lines to Nabire, a remote town with poor telephone links, were down on Wednesday.

Resource-rich Irian Jaya, the western half of New Guinea, is a separatist trouble spot where pro-independence fighters are active. Support for independence is strong and widespread and has gained momentum since East Timor's bloody separation from Indonesia last year.

In recent months the flag of the separatist Free Papua Movement has been repeatedly raised in protests across Irian Jaya that have sometimes turned violent.