Shootout with OPM, One Army Down and 1 More Injured

Shootout with OPM, One Army Down and 1 More Injured

A TNI member who served in Pos Yalet 755 Mbua was killed during a shootout with the Free Papua Organization (OPM) group Leader Egianus Kogoya on Tuesday (12/04/2018) in the early hours. Illustration / SINDOnews

JAYAPURA - A TNI member serving in Pos Yalet 755 Mbua was killed during a shootout with the Free Papua Movement (OPM) group Leader Egianus Kogoya on Tuesday (12/04/2018) in the early hours.

Until now, the 150-member TNI-Polri Combined Team Yang departing from Wamena has not yet reached the location of the Yigi District because of being blocked by armed groups in Mbua.

Deputy Chief of Information for Cenderawasih Kodam 17, Lt. Col. Inf Dax Sianturi, explained that when a joint TNI-Polri apparatus arrived at Pos Yalet 755 in Mbua District, they found one TNI soldier killed and one shot, so that the joint apparatus going to Yigi District focus on saving the shot victims.

"At the moment the joint forces are still in the Post 755 Yalet Mbua District securing the post location that gets the OPM, while waiting for instructions to proceed to the location of the massacre which is still around 2 hours away," he said.

The TNI victim who died had not yet known his name and rank due to the signal connection, and his plan would be to be evacuated by TNI helicopter to Wamena and then to Jayapura.

Until this news was revealed 31 bodies of workers had not been found because the authorities were still trying to enter a very difficult area because they were above 2000 feet high, and also had extreme weather.