By The evacuees included a fallen worker named Otto and 22 survivors, spokesperson of the Cartenz Peace Operation Task Force, Adjunct Sen.Coms.Bayu Suseno, informed here on Friday.
“They have been evacuated by using two aircraft,” he said, adding that the coffin of Otto, 37, would be flown to Makassar city, South Sulawesi province, and then transported to Toraja district for burial.
Two of the 22 survivors were injured: Marinus, 37, and Erwin Barapadang, 52, Suseno said.
The workers, who survived the assault at the construction site of the Omukia medical center in Puncak district at 1 p.m. local time on Thursday, have reunited with their families, he added.
The task force’s chief, Sen.Coms.Faizal Ramadhani, said earlier that Papuan separatists attacked several workers at the medical center project, killing one worker and injuring two others.
Nineteen workers, who survived the assault, managed to reach the task force’s security post in Ilaga, the capital of Puncak district, and reported the incident, he informed.
Martinus Bala, who survived the assault, said that a group of rebels, armed with guns, machetes, and arrows, launched a surprise attack on the workers on Thursday.
Bala said he lost one of his fingers due to a bullet but he, along with his workmates, managed to escape. “I was not even aware that my finger was bleeding,” he added.
ANTARA has reported earlier that over the past few years, armed Papuan groups have often employed hit-and-run tactics against Indonesian security personnel and mounted acts of terror against civilians in the districts of Intan Jaya, Nduga, and Puncak to instill fear among the people.
The targets of such acts of terror have included construction workers, motorcycle taxi (ojek) drivers, teachers, students, street food vendors, and also civilian aircraft.
On December 2, 2018, a group of armed Papuan rebels brutally killed 31 workers from PT Istaka Karya who were engaged in the Trans Papua project in Kali Yigi and Kali Aurak in Yigi sub-district, Nduga district.
On March 2, 2022, several members of an armed Papuan group operating in Beoga sub-district, Puncak district, killed eight Palaparing Timur Telematika (PTT) workers, who were repairing a base transceiver station (BTS) tower belonging to state-owned telecommunications operator Telkomsel.
The workers were identified as B, R, BN, BT, J, E, S, and PD, while another worker, identified by his initials as NS, survived the deadly assault, according to Papua Police spokesperson, Sen.Coms.Ahmad Kamal.
On February 7 this year, a group of armed Papuan separatists attacked a civilian aircraft owned by Susi Air. They burned the plane at Paro Airfield, Nduga district, and captured its pilot, Captain Philip Mark Merthens.
On October 16, 2023, the Papuan separatists also assaulted several traditional gold miners in Yahukimo district, Papua Pegunungan province, killing 7 of them.
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