Victor Mambor and Pizaro Gozali Idrus, Jayapura and Jakarta – Rebels in Indonesia's Papua are suspected of killing a New Zealand pilot after he landed a helicopter in a remote part of the province on Monday, Indonesian police said.
The 50-year-old pilot, identified as Glen Malcolm Conning, was killed shortly after touching down in Alama district in Mimika regency, said Brig. Gen. Faizal Ramadhani, who leads a joint police and military anti-insurgency task force in the region.
Four passengers who Indonesian authorities said were indigenous Papuans, including a child and baby, were unharmed.
Bayu Suseno, a spokesman for the task force, said the attackers ambushed the helicopter, forcibly removed the occupants, and subsequently executed Conning.
"The pilot's body was taken [back] to the helicopter and then burned along with the helicopter," he said in a statement.
New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was aware of the reports out of Papua and that its embassy in Jakarta was seeking further information from authorities.
A spokesman for the insurgent group meanwhile told BenarNews that he had not received information from his forces about the incident.
The attack is the latest by an armed group on aviation personnel in the province where Papuan independence fighters have waged a low-level insurgency against Indonesian rule since the 1960s.
Another New Zealand pilot, Phillip Mehrtens, was abducted by insurgents from the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) 18 months ago and remains in captivity.
Mehrtens was seized by the fighters on Feb. 7 in the central highlands of Papua. The rebels burned the small Susi Air plane he was piloting and released the Papuan passengers.
While his captors have released videos showing him alive, negotiations to free him have stalled. The group's demands include independence for the region they refer to as West Papua.
Sebby Sambom, a spokesman for the TPNPB, said if Conning was killed by independence fighters, it was because he should not have been in the area.
"It is within a conflict zone where civilian aircraft are prohibited and all development activities must be halted," he said in a voice message sent to BenarNews.
"Anyone who ignores this does so at their own risk. What was the New Zealander doing there? We consider him a spy."
Sambom said in another audio message Monday that the TPNPB planned to release Mehrtens this month or in September, according to ABC Australia. A similar pledge six months ago did not materialize.
Escalating tensions
Poorly armed Papuan fighters have battled Indonesia since the early 1960s, when it took control of the region from the Dutch.
Indonesian rule was formalized in 1969 under a United Nations-supervised referendum where a little more than 1,000 Papuans were allowed to vote.
Allegations of unlawful killings and abuse by Indonesian military and police "" along with impunity and the exploitation of the region's natural resources and widespread poverty "" have fueled resentment of Jakarta.
Indonesian authorities meanwhile have blamed rebels for massacres of civilians, kidnappings and terrorizing the local population.
Frits Ramandey, the head of the Papua branch of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), warned that Monday's killing could escalate tensions in Papua.
"New Zealand's focus on Indonesia will intensify, and the violence is likely to escalate," he told BenarNews.
The Papua Peace Network, an NGO, condemned the killing. "These actions are clearly criminal and prosecutable under Indonesian law," said Yan Christian Warinussy, a spokesperson for the network.
Yan said the TPNPB's accusations that Conning might have been a spy were unfounded. "A thorough investigation by multiple parties, including the police and Komnas HAM, is necessary," he said.
Source: https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/indonesian/nz-pilot-killed-papua-indonesia-08052024095143.htm