Banjir Ambarita – An armed civilian group shot at an ambulance carrying a patient in the restive Papua district of Puncak Jaya on Wednesday, killing one and injuring two others.

"An ambulance has been shot in the village of Puncak Senyum in Puncak Jaya. We suspect that an armed civilian group was responsible," Col. Inf. Lismer Luban Siantar, a spokesman for the military's Cenderwasih Command, which oversees the province of Papua, told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday.

The ambulance, which was transporting a sick patient, was heading to the Mulia Regional Hospital in Puncak Jaya from Tingginambut when a group of gunmen opened fire from 30 meters above it.

The three people sitting in the front seats of the ambulance were hit, while eight others, including the patient, were not. "We suspect there were five to 10 shooters," Lismer said.

The deceased victim has been identified as medical worker Erik Yoman, 35. Prins Baransano, another medical staff who was shot in the arm, and ambulance driver Darson Wonda, who was hit in the shoulder, are being treated at Mulia Hospital.

"Even after he was injured, the driver kept driving to the hospital," Lismer said.

Earlier this month, an unidentified gunman fatally shot a passing motorcycle taxi driver in Puncak Jaya.

Papua's highland districts of Puncak Jaya and Jayawijaya are especially prone to violence and shootings mostly directed against soldiers, police officers and migrants. Authorities have tended to blame armed groups such as the the separatist Free Papua Organization (OPM), which has been waging a low-profile resistance since the 1960s.