Niniek Karmini
Updated ,first published
Jakarta: A Papuan separatist group said on Thursday it shot and killed a US pilot who was allegedly flying Indonesian troops into the restive state.
A spokesman for the West Papua Liberation Army, or TPNPB, said its fighters shot Nicholas F. Goselin and set fire to a plane operated by PT AMA, an Indonesian airline, in the village of Balinggama.
The plane was carrying one pilot and seven passengers, the Indonesian Civil Aviation Authority said. After the pilot reported that the plane had landed, communication with the crew at the airport was lost, the ministry said in a statement. There was no immediate comment from the US Embassy.
The decades-long insurgency in Papua between Papuans and Indonesian security forces has escalated in the past year, with dozens of rebels, security forces and civilians killed. The rebels have mainly targeted foreign pilots.
The Indonesian military denied that the plane was used to transport troops. On board the ship were seven indigenous Papuans, including three women. They were not injured, the army said.
A rescue team tried to reach the area on Thursday but was turned back because of bad weather, army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Wirya Artadiguna said. Authorities plan to try again Friday morning, he said.
Papuan police said they are still working to verify the condition of the pilot and seven passengers. Spokesman Yusuf Sutejo said their efforts were hampered by the area. There is no road access and it can only be reached by air.
Rebel spokesman Sebby Sambom said the plane violated their ban on civilian travel in areas where the separatist group considers its areas of operation.
He claimed that civilian planes have been used to transport Indonesian troops and supplies into the interior of Papua. He said the American pilot was killed because the plane continued to operate despite the group’s warning. The claims could not be independently verified.
Sambom called on Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to open international talks aimed at resolving the decades-long conflict in Papua, which separatists say has led to civilian deaths and massive displacement.
“The shooting of the American pilot is the result of the failure of the governments of Indonesia, the United States and the Netherlands, as well as the United Nations, to address the root causes of the conflict in Papua, which has lasted for 64 years,” the group’s spokesperson said in the statement.
He also asked the United Nations to facilitate dialogue involving the Indonesian government, TPNPB and Papuan representatives, and warned that the group will target other civilian aircraft that it believes are supporting military operations in the region.
In February 2023, Egianus Kogoya, a regional commander in the Papua Independence Movement, kidnapped Philip Mark Mehrtensa pilot from Christchurch, New Zealand, who was working for the Indonesian airline Susi Air. He was released in September 2024.
In August 2024, TPNPB gunmen attacked a helicopter and killed its New Zealand pilot, Glen Malcolm Conningwho worked for the Indonesian airline PT Intan Angkasa Air Service. He was shot shortly after landing in a remote village in Mimika district carrying several Native Papuans who were released.
Papua, a former Dutch colony, was annexed to Indonesia in 1969, under a UN-sponsored vote that was widely seen as fraudulent, sparking a long-running conflict.
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