Three killed as pre-poll violence flares in Indonesia's Papua
Three bystanders were killed and a small child was wounded when separatist fighters in Indonesia's Papua province opened fire on a small plane bringing in security personnel ahead of regional elections due later this week, officials said on Monday.
By : migrator
Update: 2018-06-25 12:37 GMT
Jakarta
Voting will take place across Indonesia on Wednesday but security personnel are on high alert in Papua, where a long-running independence struggle has often turned violent.
A group of armed men ambushed and shot at the plane after it landed at the tiny airport and also at vendors near the airstrip, a military official said.
"The plane was carrying 15 mobile brigade officers tasked with safeguarding the local election," said Muhammad Aidi, a military official of Nduga regency. He said the pilot suffered a slight wound.
Indonesia took control of Papua following a widely criticized U.N.-backed referendum in 1969, six years after the end of Dutch colonial rule.
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