TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Head of the Military Regional Command III, Colonel Gusti Nyoman Suriastawa, confirmed Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) personnel shot dead two Nduga, Papua residents on Saturday.

The military claims that the shooting victims were part of the Egianus Kogoya-led armed separatist group.

“The victims who were shot are part of the separatist group in the Nduga Regency and were not innocent civilians,” said the colonel in a written statement on Tuesday.

Moreover, Nyoman explained that the shooting happened on the afternoon of Saturday, July 18, 2020. He said that the incident happened after the local military task force had monitored two men from the Egianus Kogoya group in the area of Kenyam.

He said that a member of the task force confirmed that there was a handgun in a transaction involving the two Nduga men, who were closely monitored by the military task force and eventually led to the shooting of the two men.

“The pieces of evidence confiscated from them was one revolver pistol serial number S 896209, a mobile phone owned by a soldier that was stolen a month prior, two bags, a machete, an axe, and cash of Rp9,520,000 in value,” said Colonel Gusti Nyoman Suriastawa in clarifying the incident at Nduga, Papua.

Read: Amnesty Int Demand Investigation on Shooting of Papuan Father, Son

AHMAD FAIZ IBNU SANI