National Police have dispatched 150 officers, including antiterror police,
to Timika, Papua, to support local officers and the military in their hunt
for suspects following violent attacks targeting Freeport employees.
Bagus Ekodanto on Thursday, who said that despite the recent attacks, no
additional police forces would be sent to the area. Shots were fired early this week on a security-bus convoy near the
Grasberg copper and gold mine in Papua province, the latest in several
attacks that have occurred since July . “Actually, we are already sharing duties in a joint patrol of the area
with the military and together we have built a task force named Amole,
which is headed by the Papua Police chief,” National Police Chief Gen.
Bambang Hendarso Danuri said on Friday, adding that his men must succeed
in capturing the attackers, regardless of the rugged terrain in Timika. “They are armed criminals. Our main concerns are the areas of Tinggi
Nambut [Puncak Jaya district] and Timika [Mimika district] now,” he said. The attacks have left four people dead ? two Freeport employees and two
police officers ? and left dozens of others wounded. Bagus Ekodanto, who is scheduled to be replaced by former antiterror
police chief Brig. Gen. Bekto Suprapto, noted that a soldier was shot in
the leg when returning from a routine patrol near the 37-mile mark in Kali
Kopi, Timika, on Wednesday. He said he believed the attackers may have been aiming at drawing the
world’s attention to their existence ahead of Dec. 1, the anniversary of
the1961 West Papuan declaration of independence from Dutch colonial rule. The date has since been taken up by pro-independence activists there as
their national day. Local military leaders initially blamed the attacks on members of the
separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM), but police investigations have
produced no evidence of their involvement. Rouge elements of the Indonesian Armed Forces are also suspects. Papua Police, in cooperation with the 17th Regional Military Command, have
deployed more than 1,000 personnel to secure the Freeport area. Freeport vehicles now only travel by daylight under heavy security escorts.