Papuan rebels kill soldiers trying to free hostages

In the Indonesian region of Papua, fighting breaks out between rebels and the military after the kidnapping of a New Zealand pilot. According to Reuters, the Papua National Liberation Army rebel group claimed to have killed nine military personnel on Saturday.

According to CNN, there were 13 people. On the other hand, the Indonesian military is talking about the killing of a soldier while searching for the pilot.

On Sunday afternoon (local time) in Jakarta, a military spokesman said there was no information on other deaths. However, communication in the area is difficult, “especially in choppy weather.”

The Reuters news agency quoted the spokesman as saying that the army will intensify its efforts to rescue the hijacked pilot.

“We have asked the governments of Indonesia and New Zealand to release the hostages through peaceful negotiations. But the Indonesian army and police attacked civilians on March 23,” a rebel spokesman said on Sunday.

Then the rebels decided to take revenge. “It has already begun,” says the speaker. According to him, the fighting was said to have continued on Sunday.

The army denied allegations of targeting civilians. The armed forces are likely to protect civilians expelled by the rebels.

The Indonesian-ruled region of Papua in the western half of New Guinea has been the scene of separatist uprisings since the 1960s. The province was annexed to Indonesia in 1969 in a vote sponsored by the United Nations.

For years, there have been frequent violent conflicts in the resource-rich region. East of the island located north of Australia is the independent nation of Papua New Guinea.