Preliminary field reports allege that Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) units raided the Soanggama Village, Hitadipa District, Intan Jaya Regency, Central Papua, on 15 October 2025 before dawn. According to media reports and local informants, military members conducted house-to-house searches and opened indiscriminate fire, resulting in 15 fatalities.
Fourteen indigenous Papuans were reportedly executed on the spot, and one elderly woman who fled towards the Hiabu River was swept away. Community sources state soldiers buried most of the bodies, with four bodies remaining disappeared. The incident triggered mass displacement of at least 145 residents from Soanggama, Janamba, and Kulapa. Following the incident, military representatives claimed that 14 members of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) were killed in a firefight.
According to local informants and members of the Intan Jaya conflict mediation team who visited the site of the crime after the incident, non-organic TNI personnel (Den 1 & Den 4 Satgas Rajawali; Yonif 50/S and Yonif 712/WT) commenced an operation around 03:00 am in the Nduni Ndugupa/Soanggama area, leading to the arrest and summary execution of at least 10 persons across Nduni Ndugupa, Soanggama, and Dugibugate. Some bodies were allegedly buried by TNI personnel in multiple locations, including in front of a Protestant church and in hamlets around Soanggama. Mediation team members reported limited access to recover and identify all remains.
Military members claimed they found an improvised firearm, four air rifles, assorted ammunition, optics, communication gear, and Morning Star flags, designating Soanggama as a TNI stronghold. However, other accounts mentioned that the seized items consisted of machetes, axes, bows & arrows, and air rifles. The TNI declared that soldiers moved into the village to "free residents" from unwanted heavy TPNPB presence in the village.
Local church leaders and civil society immediately disputed the official narrative. The Intan Jaya Conflict Mediation Team states that not all 15 victims were affiliated with the TPNPB, identifying at least nine civilians, including a deaf man and a housewife who died while fleeing. Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) condemned the violence, called for an urgent review of state security strategy in the Papuan Provinces, and urged impartial, transparent, and accountable investigations into the case.
Following the military operation, 145 people (see photo on top, source: independent HRD), reportedly consisting of 68 women, 38 men, and 39 children, reportedly fled to Hitadipa and sought emergency shelter with limited access to food, water, and health services. Churches and human rights observers appealed for humanitarian access and protection for the internally displaced persons.
Human rights and international humanitarian law analysis
If confirmed, the reported indiscriminate use of lethal force against sleeping residents, summary executions, secret burials, and confiscation of essential livelihood tools could amount to extrajudicial executions and other serious violations of the right to life under international human rights law (ICCPR, Art. 6) and breaches of IHL obligations applicable in non-international armed conflict, notably the principles of distinction (civilians must never be targeted), and proportionality (no use of excessive force against civilians) of an attack. The reported burial of bodies without family participation impedes identification and violates the dignified treatment of the dead and families' rights to truth and remedy.
The Komnas HAM condemnation and call to halt violence and review security strategy underscore the state's duty to prevent unlawful killings, ensure accountability, and facilitate impartial investigations. Divergent casualty narratives further highlight the necessity of an independent, credible fact-finding mechanism with unhindered access.
The internal displacement of at least 145 people to Hitadipa, including children, indicates acute protection needs and potential violations of the prohibition of forced displacement absent imperative military reasons.