Jakarta – Indonesia's state news agency says separatists in the easternmost Papua province have killed a soldier.

Antara said Sunday that Free Papua Movement rebels opened fire on a remote military outpost on Saturday, killing an army private before setting a bridge on fire and fleeing. The report quoting police officials could not be independently verified.

Indonesia took over Papua from the Dutch in 1963. The region lies 2,050 miles (3,300 kilometers) east of the capital Jakarta and was brought under formal Indonesian rule in a vote by community leaders that was internationally dismissed as a sham.

The small, poorly armed movement still seeks independence, but it has been years since a government soldier was killed.