TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian revealed that the perpetrators behind the attack that killed dozens of Trans Papua workers managed to obtain firearms from security personnel.
“First off, they usually get their firearms by stealing them from security personnel caught off-guard,” said Tito Karnavian at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on December 5.
Furthermore, Tito suspects that the armed group also collected their firearms from weapons that were used in the Ambon conflict and firearms that were brought into Papua illegally from the New Guinea border, which Indonesian authorities have foiled several times in the past.
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“A large number of firearms were available at the time. The police’s mobile brigade warehouse was even ransacked,” he continued.
According to Tito Karnavian, police and national armed forces (TNI) joint team has been mobilized to capture the group responsible for killing dozens of Papuan construction workers. He suspects that the armed group is comprised of 30-50 people.
“We have a larger platoon mobilized there. We are positive that we will be able to control the situation,” said the National Police Chief.
AHMAD FAIZ IBNU SANI
