Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – In the latest violence against soldiers in the restive province of Papua, an infantry soldier was fatally stabbed by an unknown assailant not far from his base in Skamto district after dark on Sunday.

The soldier was identified as Muhammad Ihksan, 29, and he died of a stab wound to the right side of his chest after being transported to Dian Harapan Waena hospital.

Ihksan reportedly received a phone call around 4:45 p.m. and stepped outside to take it because the telephone service inside the military compound was weak.

Then, police said, a car drove up and halted nearby. A man got out and suddenly stabbed Ihksan in the chest. The assailant climbed back in the car and fled while Ihksan shouted for help.

The wounded soldier was rushed to a nearby clinic and was referred to the Dian Harapan hospital after receiving first response treatment. He died at the hospital's emergency ward.

Papua has been home to a low-level armed resistance fighting for a free Papua since the 1960s.