The West Papua Liberation Army is claiming responsibility for the killings of at least 24 Indonesian construction workers in Papua.

Photo: Supplied

The claims confirmed initial blame placed on the separatist group by Indonesian authorities, and marked a deadly escalation of conflict in the restive region unseen in recent years.

Indonesian media reported on Tuesday that around 150 Indonesian armed forces were in pursuit of the gunmen, after President Joko Widodo ordered military and police chiefs to check in on the situation.

Witness reports described to RNZ Pacific by officials painted a grim picture of a civilian massacre which took place atop a hilltop in Tolikara regency on Sunday.

On Saturday, as members of the Liberation Army held a ceremony in neighbouring Nduga to commemorate Papua's independence from Dutch colonial rule on December 1st, 1961, a construction worker nearby snapped a photo of the scene.

The employees of the state-owned company Istaka Karya were building bridges and roads in Papua, where Jakarta has been undertaking an infrastructure drive.

But the Liberation Army, which claimed responsibility for the attack on Tuesday, described the workers as armed members of Indonesia's military, or TNI, disguised as civilians.

The presence of a camera prompted a violent reaction from the group of around 50 Liberation Army fighters, who rounded up dozens of workers, bound their hands and marched them North, to Lanny Jaya regency, said TNI spokesperson Mohammed Aidi.

On Sunday morning, the workers were taken to the top of a hill and forced to march in formation, while they were shot at by Liberation Army soldiers, who killed at least 19 people.

Eleven employees managed to survive the massacre by pretending they were dead, said Mr Aidi. But when they ran, the group was pursued by the Liberation Army and 5 more were killed with bow and arrows and spears.

Survivors took refuge at a TNI outpost, where soldiers returned fire at the Liberation Army. One soldier died in the shootout.

Four workers were evacuated by police and military on Tuesday, along with eight local health centre staff and teachers employed by TNI, said Mr Aidi. Three workers have been hospitalised with gunshot wounds, while another two who escaped remained missing.

President Widodo said on Tuesday he would visit Papua once more information on the incident became available.

Photo: AFP

"We realize that even though the development in Papua is indeed very difficult to carry out and can still be hindered by incidents such as the reported one, the development in Papua should continue," he said.

In February, the Liberation Army made a fresh declaration of war against the TNI, which it called "the invaders".

Since then, the group has been involved in a spate of skirmishes in Papua, including a series of deadly gunfire exchanges in the Highlands regencies of Puncak Jaya, Nduga, Timika and Lanny Jaya.

Two Liberation Army members were killed by TNI in November when they exchanged gunfire in Lanny Jaya.

Five others were killed in Puncak Jaya in October by the Indonesian military, it said.

In late October, Indonesian media reported that a group of 15 school teachers and medical workers were held hostages by the Liberation Army in Nduga for two weeks, and that one teacher was raped. </s> At least 20 people, including pregnant women and children, have been killed in an ambush and retaliatory massacre by villagers in Papua New Guinea, according to news reports and a police spokesman in the South Pacific island nation.

The fighting began when six people were set upon and killed while returning from a ceremony Saturday in the country's central highlands, Teddy Augwi, chief police inspector for Hela province, told the Post-Courier, a newspaper in Papua New Guinea.

Relatives of the dead then retaliated, Augwi was quoted as saying.

There were conflicting accounts on the total number of victims, who were from rival communities.

A police spokesman, Dominic Kakas, told the New York Times that 16 women and children, including two pregnant women, were killed in the revenge attack.

Eight children and eight women died in the massacre, Philip Pimua, a community health worker who was in the village of Karida when the slaughter occurred, said in a telephone interview with the Times. Another police spokesman, Thomas Levongo, speaking to Radio New Zealand, gave a slightly lower death toll, saying 10 women and five children had been killed.

It was also unclear when the revenge attack occurred. Augwi said it happened Sunday morning, while Pimua said it was Monday.

Philip Undialu, governor of Hela province, said the attacks had "escalated into the massacre of innocent women and kids," according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Police Commissioner Francis Okura called the revenge attack "an unbelievable, unthinkable and atrocious criminal act that must be dealt with swiftly and severely." He added that a military and police team was searching for the killers.

Augwi said the massacre represented a new turn in communal violence.

"This is not a tribal fight where opposing villages face each other on field," he said. "This is a fight in guerrilla warfare, meaning they play hide and seek and ambush their enemies."

Violence between the communities has been documented for decades in Papua New Guinea, but it has surged in recent years in the region where the latest attacks occurred, amid tensions over politics and developing gas fields. </s> More than 20 people have been killed in tribal violence in Papua New Guinea, with most of the victims pregnant women and children.

The killings in the highland province of Hela were probably retaliation for an earlier attack that left around seven dead, Governor Philip Undialu said.

He told the ABC that he latest violence was on Monday when 16 people including women and children died at the village of Karida.

'This has escalated into the massacre of innocent women and kids,' Undialu said.

The Post-Courier, based in the South Pacific island nation's capital Port Moresby, reported that as many as 24 people have been killed in the villages of Karida and Peta since Saturday.

Six people had been ambushed and killed near Peta on Saturday, Hela Police Chief Inspector Teddy Augwi told the newspaper.

The victims' relatives retaliated with rifles the next day, killing between 16 and 18 people at Karida, including pregnant women, he said.

'This is not a tribal fight where the opposing villagers face each other on field,' Augwi told the newspaper. 'This is a fight in guerrilla warfare, meaning they play hide-and-seek and ambush their enemies.'

Many villagers had fled the violence, Hela Administrator William Bando told the newspaper.

It was not immediately clear if any suspects had been arrested. Papua New Guinea Police spokesman Superintendent Dominic Kakas did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Tribal violence is common in Papua New Guinea's interior, where villagers avenge relatives in retaliation known as payback.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said those responsible for the fatal attacks could face the death penalty, ABC reported. </s> More than 20 reportedly killed in Papua New Guinea violence

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — More than 20 people including pregnant women and children have been killed in recent tribal violence in Papua New Guinea, media reported on Wednesday.

The death toll and dates of the violence in the remote highland province of Hela varied in reports by Australian Broadcasting Corp. and the Post-Courier newspaper.

Hela Gov. Philip Undialu told ABC the latest violence was on Monday when 16 people including women and children died at the village of Karida.

The killings were probably retaliation for an earlier attack that left around seven dead, Undialu said.

"This has escalated into the massacre of innocent women and kids," Undialu said.

The Post-Courier, based in the South Pacific island nation's capital Port Moresby, reported as many as 24 people were killed in the villages of Karida and Peta since Saturday.

Six people had been ambushed and killed near Peta on Saturday, Hela Police Chief Inspector Teddy Augwi told the newspaper.

The victims' relatives retaliated with rifles the next day, killing between 16 and 18 people at Karida, including pregnant women, he said.

"This is not a tribal fight where the opposing villagers face each other on field," Augwi told the newspaper. "This is a fight in guerrilla warfare, meaning they play hide-and-seek and ambush their enemies."

Many villagers had fled the violence, Hela Administrator William Bando told the newspaper.

It was not immediately clear if any suspects had been arrested. Papua New Guinea Police spokesman Superintendent Dominic Kakas did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Tribal violence is common in Papua New Guinea's interior, where villagers avenge relatives in retaliation known as payback.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said those responsible for the fatal attacks could face the death penalty, ABC reported.

The prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. </s> Jakarta-based based human rights watchdog Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam) and its local partner in Papua, Elsham Papua, have condemned intimidation and violence by police officers against activist Whens Tebay during mass arrests in West Papua this week, reports the Jakarta Post.

The two groups said Whens went to monitor the rally, which was held to promote West Papuan independence, before the police forcibly dispersed it.

More than 500 people were arrested during the self-determination protests on the 55th anniversary of Indonesia’s military takeover of the region on Monday.

Thousands marched across the region to support West Papuan freedom and to condemn decades of brutal treatment of indigenous Melanesians by Indonesia, reports TeleSur.

A total of 528 people, including several children were arrested in the peaceful rallies across Indonesia’s most eastern province of Papua. A number had already been detained the night before the planned protests and activists reported that a number of people were beaten and badly injured before being arrested.

Activists also said that several who were detained were interrogated without a lawyer and at least one protester was tortured by Indonesian police.

Journalists were banned from several areas and the headquarters of the West Papua National Committee in Jayapura was vandalised.

15 locations

Demonstrations took place in at least 15 locations and several people were arrested after applying for demonstration permits with authorities, according to civil rights lawyer Veronica Koman, who is representing independence activist Filep Karma.

Karma has been detained since 2004 for peacefully protesting for his people’s independence.

“This year alone over 4800 people have been unlawfully arrested and many others killed and tortured by the Indonesian military and police,” said exiled West Papua independence leader Benny Wenda in a statement.

Monday’s protests coincided with the anniversary of “Operation TRIKORA,” which was carried out when the Indonesian government invaded West Papua on December 19, 1961, after Melanesian West Papuans first raised their Morning Star flag on December 1.

The region was then annexed by Indonesia in 1969 in a controversial referendum after winning independence from Dutch colonialism in 1963. Independence supporters say that the 1969 annexation is illegal and that Indonesian control has amounted to genocide.

Indigenous West Papua Sends Solidarity to Standing Rock

Throughout Indonesia’s hard rule of the mineral-rich area, around half a million Melanesian West Papuans are thought to have been killed by Indonesian authorities and pro-independence supporters face restrictions of movement and assembly, media blackouts, and many also have been held as political prisoners.

Protesters were also throwing their support behind the full membership of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, ULMWP, to the Melanesian Spearhead Group, MSG. The group includes other Melanesian nations, Vanuatu, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

A meeting is due to be held this month in Vanuatu to discuss membership, which would give West Papua an international platform to push for independence.

A number of nations from the MSG have already publicly backed West Papua’s struggle for self-determination and condemned Indonesian human rights abuses in the area. </s> Alwaght- At least 24 children and women, including a pregnant women, have been killed in a tribal massacre in Papua New Guinea’s Hela province.

The killings happened on early Monday morning during a raid on Karida, a village of about 800 people in the interior of the country.

Authorities say the region has for years struggled with violence, at times driven by disputes over the distribution of land and resource wealth.

Details are still emerging from the remote central area, but the violence appears to have been a string of attacks and counter-attacks over several days.

Hela provincial administrator William Bando told AFP news agency that 24 people were dead and there could be more.

Local news agency EMTV reported at least two incidents in small villages in the Tari-Pori district.

On Sunday, seven people - four men and three women - were killed in Munima village. Then on Monday, 16 women and children were hacked to death in the village of Karida, EMTV said. Two of the women were pregnant.

According to the Post-Courier newspaper, the attacks took place on Saturday and Sunday with six people killed the first day and 16 - including two pregnant women - in a retaliatory attack the following day.

Pills Pimua Kolo from the Hela province department of health posted pictures on Facebook of what he said was the massacre in Karida village.

The pictures show a row of bodies wrapped in cloth and tied to long poles. He said some of them had been chopped into pieces and their body parts were hard to recognise. </s> Children and pregnant women are among those murdered in a tribal massacre in Papua New Guinea's Highlands area.At least 24 people are confirmed to have died in a brutal flare-up of violence between rival tribes over several days in Hela province

Papua New Guinea (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / Online - 10th July, 2019) Children and pregnant women are among those murdered in a tribal massacre in Papua New Guinea's Highlands area.At least 24 people are confirmed to have died in a brutal flare-up of violence between rival tribes over several days in Hela province.

Some reports put the death toll higher.PM James Marape called the news "one of the saddest days of my life", promising to track down the perpetrators.It is one of the worst outbreaks of tribal violence in PNG for years."It's a very sad story," Philip Undialu, governor of Hela told news agency Reuters, explaining the killings were part of a conflict running for years."It was retaliation of a previous attack.

Both attacks were made in an innocent community where people were not expecting it and all of us are in a state of shock."Authorities say the region has for years struggled with violence, at times driven by disputes over the distribution of land and resource wealth.Details are still emerging from the remote central area, but the violence appears to have been a string of attacks and counter-attacks over several days.Hela provincial administrator William Bando that 24 people were dead and there could be more.Local news agency EMTV reported at least two incidents in small villages in the Tari-Pori district.On Sunday, seven people - four men and three women - were killed in Munima village.

Then on Monday, 16 women and children were hacked to death in the village of Karida, EMTV said. Two of the women were pregnant.According to the Post-Courier newspaper, the attacks took place on Saturday and Sunday with six people killed the first day and 16 - including two pregnant women - in a retaliatory attack the following day.

Pills Pimua Kolo from the Hela province department of health posted pictures on Facebook of what he said was the massacre in Karida village.The pictures show a row of bodies wrapped in cloth and tied to long poles.

He said some of them had been chopped into pieces and their body parts were hard to recognise.Prime Minister Marape, who is from the area, said the killings were led by gunmen from the Hagui, Okiru and Liwi tribes and said he would seek out punishment for the people responsible."Gun-toting criminals, your time is up," Mr Marape said.How can a province of 400,000 people function with policing law and order with under 60 policemen, and occasional operational military and police that does no more than band aid maintenance," he added.William Bando said he had now called for at least 100 more police to reinforce the existing 40 local officers.Papua New Guinea's highland provinces are very remote.

Communities are still based around tribal traditions and many small villages have never had road connections.In 2018, an earthquake devastated some of the remote regions.Tribal clashes are not unusual with rivalries often prompted by rape or theft, or disputes over tribal boundaries.But while clans have fought each other for decades or centuries, the severity of the violence has shocked Papua New Guinea.Over the past years, the influx of automatic weapons has made clashes more deadly and escalated the cycle of violence.US oil and gas company ExxonMobil operates a natural gas processing plant in the region where the massacre took place but halted construction on a pipeline last year because of unrest.Papua New Guinea is among the poorest countries of Asia with about 40% of the population living on less than $1 a day, according to the UN. </s> Indonesia's Papua province was hit by fresh unrest yesterday as more than 1,000 security personnel were sent to the restive region after violent protests. Protesters torched a traditional market and other government buildings in the town of Fakfak in the latest violence, national police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal said. Iqbal said additional personnel would be sent to Manokwari and Sorong, where protesters set fire to buildings on Monday and Tuesday. "The situation is under control," Iqbal said. "We are prioritizing persuasive measures and communicating with community and religious leaders," he added.

Jakarta has called for calm in its easternmost territory following riots triggered by the detention of dozens of Papuan students at the weekend. There were also demonstrations in the town of Fakfak on the western edge of the island, which is divided between the Indonesian province of West Papua and the independent nation of Papua New Guinea. The latest protests come after several cities in resource-rich Papua were brought to a standstill this week, including in Manokwari where businesses and the local parliament building were set ablaze by angry demonstrators.

Indonesian security forces have intensified operations in Papua after separatist rebels killed about two dozen construction workers building a road in December. Separatists have fought for independence for the region since the 1960s. Papua and West Papua provinces make up the Indonesian half of New Guinea island. </s> JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian police have detained dozens of people ahead of a West Papua independence protest on Monday.

At least 200 people were arrested in several cities in Papua and Java, said Veronica Koman, a lawyer for Papuan independence activist Filep Karma.

Monday is the 55th anniversary of the official declaration of an Indonesian military campaign to take control of Papua from the Dutch.

Koman said several people were arrested last week when they applied for demonstration permits.

She said the headquarters of the pro-independence National Committee for West Papua in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, was vandalized during a police raid on Monday.

The Dutch colonizers of the Indonesian archipelago held onto West Papua when Indonesia became independent after World War II. It became part of Indonesia following a U.N.-supervised referendum in 1969 criticized as undemocratic.
At least 19 people are killed as armed group linked to West Papua Liberation Organization attacks construction workers at Trans Papua road project in Nduga Regency, Papua, Indonesia.