Indonesian police killed a separatist rebel in a clash this week in Papua province that was followed by a deadly insurgent attack on public facilities, a provincial police spokesperson said on Friday.

Meanwhile, the armed wing of the Free Papua Separatist Movement (OPM) claimed on Friday its fighters shot down a small cargo plane, killing three people on Wednesday, although authorities insisted the crash was an accident. .

Provincial police spokesman Ahmad Musthofa Kamal said soldiers and police on a joint patrol Monday in Pegunungan Bintang regency retaliated against the insurgents.

“From the exchange of fire, joint members of the military police managed to kill one separatist member and two were injured,” Kamal said in a statement. “The deceased rebel was Elly M. Bidana who claimed to be the operation commander of the separatist group Ngalum-Kupel.

“The situation is now safe, although public services have been affected due to arson attacks on public facilities carried out by the armed criminal group,” Kamal said.

After the meeting, the rebels set fire to public buildings, including a dispensary, a primary school, a bank and housing for teachers and health workers, police said. An OPM spokesperson claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Police recovered the body of a nurse killed in the attack on the Kiwirok district health center, a police spokesperson said Thursday.

Gabriela Meilan, 22, died after falling into a ravine while trying to flee the scene of the attack. Her colleague, Kristina Sampe Tonapa, survived after suffering stab wounds and bruises.

Sebby Sambom, spokesman for the armed wing of the separatist movement, the West Papua National Liberation Army, said the groups were waging “a revolutionary war”.

“Therefore, all development programs carried out by the Indonesian colonial government must cease, and the colonial government must be ready to sit down at the negotiating table with the Papuan negotiators,” Sambom told BenarNews on Friday.

He confirmed that security forces killed local separatist commander Bidana.

Sebby also claimed rebel fighters were responsible for the downing of a Rimbun Air cargo plane in Intan Jaya regency on Wednesday. The accident killed all three people on board. The plane was carrying food and building materials for the army.

Rebel Commander Sabinus Waker released a statement saying that rebels led by a leader called Odiut Kogeya shot down the plane. He said the rebels started shooting down the plane on September 12.

Accidents involving small aircraft are common in jungle-covered Papua, which relies on air transport in the absence of extensive road networks.

“Stop the culprits”

Meanwhile, Yan Christian Warinussy, a Papuan human rights lawyer, criticized the rebels’ actions.

“It is not allowed to attack the medical facilities, because these facilities are also used by people from the OPM,” he told BenarNews.

“I hope TNI [military] and the police will immediately arrest the perpetrators of the crime, ”he said.

The Indonesian Papua Medical Association called on the government and security forces to specifically ensure the safety of health workers in response to Meilan’s death.

“The Indonesian Medical Association of Papua Region condemns this action,” association president Donald Aronggear said in a statement.

“We hope that a similar tragedy will not happen again so that health workers can provide their services peacefully and without fear. “

The attacks came even as authorities tightened security ahead of the National Games which will be held in Papua from October 2 to 15.

The separatist insurgency has been brewing for decades in the Papua region, which consists of the provinces of Papua and West Papua, but violence has escalated in the past three years.

In April, the government branded the separatist rebels terrorists after insurgents ambushed and killed an army general who headed the Papua regional branch of the National Intelligence Agency. The murder prompted President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to order a crackdown.

Earlier this month, suspected separatist rebels killed four soldiers and injured two others in a pre-dawn raid on their post in Maybrat, a regency in West Papua, in the deadliest attack on the government forces in the area this year.

In 1963, Indonesian forces invaded Papua and annexed the region. Papua was officially incorporated into Indonesia after a UN-sponsored ballot called the Free Choice Act in 1969.

Locals and activists said the vote was a sham because only around 1,000 people participated. However, the United Nations accepted the result, which essentially endorsed the rule of Jakarta.

The region is rich in natural resources and minerals, including copper and gold, but remains one of the poorest and underdeveloped in Indonesia.