TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The National Police (Polri) have sent a Mobile Brigade (Brimob) company to hunt down the armed group that attacked policemen in Papua last week.
“Brimob personnel have been deployed there to hunt down the armed group. A company of Brimob personnel were already sent there,” National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Setyo Wasisto said at the Polri headquarters in South Jakarta today.
The Puncak Jaya Police have deployed two teams. One is sent to scan the area’s forests and the other uses a twin otter plane to search the vast Mamberamo River. Setyo said the police had yet to receive any update due to communication difficulties.
Read: Unidentified Men Shoot Brimob Plane at Papua Airport
According to Setyo, the police are finding it difficult to detect the armed group due to harsh terrains in Puncak Jaya. “They can see us but we can’t see them. This means we cannot predict their sudden attacks,” said Setyo.
Prior to the 2018 simultaneous regional elections (Pilkada), an armed group shot at a plane owned by Trigana Air at the Kenyam Airport in Nduga Regency, Papua, on June 25. The plane carried Pilkada logistics and 15 Brimob personnel.
The armed group then diverted their attacks on local residents in the vicinity of the airport, claiming three lives and injuring a child. The regional election in Nduga, was delayed in light of the attacks.
ANDITA RAHMA
