Markus Makur, Timika – Despite an increase in the number of security officers guarding PT Freeport Indonesia's mine in Timika, Papua, a military car was shot at by unknown gunmen in the area on Wednesday.
The road leading to Freeport's Grasberg gold and copper mine was the scene of a series of shoot-outs in recent months, which claimed three lives. However, the identity of the attackers remains a mystery.
Gunman shot out the window of a military vehicle belonging to the Tembagapura district military command as it passed along mile 41 of the road leading to the mine at around 6:10 a.m at local time on Wednesday, local police said.
They said bullets broke through the glass window on the right side of the vehicle, driven by Capt. Ronald Nainggolan, and through the dashboard. "No one was injured in the incident," Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Agus Riyanto said.
He added the gunmen had taken advantage of the recent calm in the area to launch the ambush. "The shooters also know the situation and the location very well and are very mobile. We will continue to hunt for their whereabouts," Agus said.
The latest incident took place just a day after an additional 600 TNI personnel arrived to help safeguard the mine. The soldiers joined more than 1,300 police personnel already on guard around the mine.
Agus said the attackers managed to escape the joint military-police manhunt by moving from one place to another. "Unidentified gunmen have already taken control of areas near PT Freeport Indonesia," Agus added.
In July, an Australian employee of Freeport as well as an Indonesian security guard and a police officer were killed in shootings that occurred along the same stretch of road.
More shootings, seemingly targeted at Freeport workers, rocked the area in August. Later in the month police arrested nine suspects, including two Freeport employees, charging them with premeditated murder and the illegal possession of firearms.
Security authorities initially blamed the attacks on the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM), who have been campaigning for independence for their resource-rich region since the end of Dutch colonial rule and see Freeport as a symbol of outside rule.
However, the authorities apparently no longer suspect the rebel movement.
Some analysts believe the shootings stem from a rivalry between the police and the military over the multimillion-dollar illegal gold mining industry in the restive province, or lucrative contracts to provide security for PT Freeport.
Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono has denied the Indonesian Military (TNI) was involved in the recent armed attacks on Freeport, calling it "wild speculation".