Papua leaders call for Indonesia to withdraw troops
JAYAPURA, Indonesia — Leaders of Indonesia’s easternmost Papua region are calling on President Joko Widodo to order the withdrawal of troops and national police from an area where separatists earlier this month carried out one of their deadliest attacks.
Papua province Gov. Lukas Enembe said late Thursday that civilians who fled into the jungle are needlessly suffering. He said the pro-independence fighters are unlikely still in the Nduga area, where a Dec. 2 attack on a trans-Papua highway construction site killed at least 17 workers.
After meeting with members of the provincial parliament and church and tribal leaders, Enembe said Nduga should be free of troops and Indonesian police so residents can celebrate Christmas in peace. The provinces of Papua and West Papua are predominantly Christian regions in Muslim-majority Indonesia.
At the meeting, Papuan officials agreed to set up a task force to investigate the Nduga killings and other violence.