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Villagers attack army near Freeport copper mine

Source
Wall Street Journal - August 22, 1997

Jakarta – One villager was killed and three soldiers were injured when tribesmen used bows and arrows to attack an Indonesian army patrol near the Freeport copper mine in New Guinea on Friday, a military source said.

The incident took place outside the town of Timika, about 3,320 kilometers east of Jakarta, near the Freeport Indonesia copper mine operated by Freeport-McMoran Copper and Gold Inc. (FCX) of New Orleans.

The mine is in the mountainous center of Irian Jaya, the western half of New Guinea island, governned by Indonesia.

An army officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the tribesmen shot arrows at a group of troops, injuring three soldiers.

One soldier shot dead one of the attackers.

Earlier, Indonesian troops broke up a demonstration of several hundred people who had blockaded a main road near the mine.

The group had been protesting about the deaths of two of their kinsmen on Wednesday. They claimed the pair were killed after they hitched a ride with a truck belonging to the mine.

A Freeport spokesman, Ed Pressman, denied the mine had been involved in the men's deaths.

Another group of people later staged a noisy protest outside the home of the local government chief.

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