Brimob Officer Shot Dead in Papua; Police Pursuit Shooter

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A joint force of the TNI Army and Brimob are still chasing after a group of armed men who terrorized Papua's Tembagapura city in Mimika this morning. During the terror, a Papua Brimob officer was killed by a bullet shot.

Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Ahmad Musthofa Kamal said they are intensifying the pursuit operation because the armed men fiercely fought the police back.

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"We are still after them. Hopefully we will catch them soon so we can find out why they did it and what is their purpose," he said on Wednesday, November 15.

At around 4:00 am this morning in Papua, a group of men bearing weapons got into a gunfight with the Papua Brimob's B Detachment around Mile 69, Tembagapura district.

During the clash, two Brimob members were shot, one of them-- Brigadier Firman, died. His compatriot Brig. Head Rumente is still being treated at the Tembagapura Hospital.

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According to Kamal, in the last few days the armed group has been firing their weapons at members of the police and the army, as well as to workers of Freeport Indonesia and its sub-contractors. The group, he said, even attacked civilians in Banti and Kimbeli, Tembagapura District.

Kamal said this morning's gunfight happened when the police were tracking down the men who shot at a Freeport car at the same location at Mile 69. During the shooting, a Puncak Jaya Power worker Raden Totok was shot in the head.

ANTARA