Markus Makur, Timika – Police on Wednesday arrested a tribal war chief and seven members of the upstream group in Kwamki Lama village as part of efforts to end days of fighting between the village's two rival groups.
Personnel from Mimika Police and Mobile Brigade in Papua scoured the area around the Jl. Mambruk II complex in Kwamki Lama, Harapan subdistrict, to make the arrests. They also seized bows and arrows, spears, machetes and axes.
Tribal war chief Stefanus Kula and his men are currently being held at the Mimika Police office for interrogation.
The raid followed an attack on PT Freeport Indonesia employee Ayub Rumbiak, 40, which was blamed on members from the upstream group on Jl. Mambruk II in Kwamki Lama.
Ayub, an employee at the dewatering department at Amamapare Portside harbor, sustained arrow wounds on his right thigh as he was passing along Jl. Freeport Lama, north of Kwamki Lama, at around 5.50 a.m. Wednesday.
He was on a motorcycle taxi heading to work when he was allegedly attacked with arrows by members of the upstream group on Jl. Mambruk II. He received treatment at the Kuala Kencana Clinic and was later referred to Tembagapura Hospital for intensive treatment.
At 6:30 a.m. local time, members from the Mimika Police and Mobile Brigade unit from the Papua Police headquarters, led by Mimika Police deputy chief Comr. Jeremias Runtini, combed the downstream group's neighborhood in Yuni Kama, Kwamki Lama. They then scoured the upstrem group's neighborhood on Jl. Mambruk II, and nabbed eight residents, including tribal war chief Stefanus Kula.
Jeremias told The Jakarta Post the police had carried out the operation to end the tribal war between the two rival groups in Kwamki Lama.
The upstream group in the Mambruk housing complex wished for peace, so the police had to arrest its war chief and a number of local residents, he added.
The clashes erupted between the two groups more than a week ago due to an unpaid compensation demanded by the downstream tribe for a rape allegedly committed by a man from the upstream tribe.
The warring groups have so far defied the police's call to end the violence, with one side vowing to avenge the death of one of its members after last week's clashes.
The Mimika regency legislative council has formed a task force headed by Elminus Mom and issued six recommendations to end the feud. The task force was to assist security forces by carrying out persuasive approaches to end the conflict.
The council also suggested the security forces take stern action against tribal war chiefs and arrest them if needed to enforce the law.
Former Mimika acting regent Athanasius Allo Rafra, now a Mimika council member from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said the Mimika regency administration should play a key role in ending the recurrent tribal war in Kwamki Lama.
"The Mimika legislature will urge the regency administration to immediately settle the issue so both the rival groups can achieve peace."