Indonesia: Gunmen Shoot at Plane, Kill 3 Civilians at Papua Airport

Gunmen killed three civilians and injured two others Monday soon after shooting at a plane carrying police who were to oversee elections later this week in a remote area of eastern Indonesia’s Papua province, officials said.

Papua police spokesman Ahmad Mustafa Kamal said the civilians, identified as vendors, were killed after the plane landed in the Keneyam airport in Nduga district. The pilot was one of the two people who were injured.

“We could not confirm the number of victims in detail as communication is difficult there,” Kamal told reporters in the provincial capital, Jayapura.

Police alleged that the attackers were members of the “Armed Civilians Criminal Group” (KKB) – the name Indonesian police use for the Free Papua Organization (OPM), an independence movement group.

“They divided themselves into two groups. One went into the hills and the other went to the outskirts of the airport close to community activities where they shot the civilians,” Kamal said.

Army spokesman Col. Muhammad Aidi also named KKB as the attackers.

Papua, a former Dutch colony, has been the scene of insurgent attacks since it was absorbed into Indonesia in 1969. The U.S.-based mining giant, Freeport-McMoran, operates the Grasberg gold and copper mining complex in the province.