JAYAPURA (Jakarta Globe / Pacific Media Watch): Two Indonesian military officers have been wounded after yet another exchange of gunfire between the military and an armed group suspected to be part of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) in Puncak Jaya district, Papua, reports the Jakarta Globe.
The two soldiers were identified as Polang Harahap and Rahman Hakim, who were shot in the forehead and right shoulder respectively, after an armed group ambushed a military (TNI) outpost in Gurage village, Puncak Jaya on Friday afternoon. The assailants managed to flee the scene.
“‘[Both injured soldiers] are being evacuated to Mulia Hospital,” said Lieutenant Colonel Rikas Hidayatullah, spokesman for the Papua military command. “Other [TNI] members are chasing after the shooters. We don’t know yet if anyone [from the attackers] was injured.”
The village of Gurage is located near the Tingginambut area, where a faction of Papua’s pro-independence group, or OPM, led by Goliat Tabuni is known to launch attacks on Indonesian security personnel.
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