West Papua Police chief Inspector General Tornagogo Sihombing has condemned the killing of four soldiers at Kisor military post in the early hours of Thursday and called their assailants “savages”.

“Amid the COVID-19 pandemic situation, we still find savages. The attackers’ acts of violence are brutal,” he told journalists in Sorong, West Papua province on Friday.

In the early hours of Thursday (September 2, 2021), members of an unidentified terrorist group ambushed several soldiers while they were sleeping at the Kisor military post of South Aifat sub-district, Maybrat district, West Papua province.

Four soldiers—2nd Sergeant Amrosius, Chief Private Dirham, First Private Zul Ansari, and First Lieutenant Dirman—died in the attack, according to spokesperson for the XVIII/Kasuari Regional Military Command, Lt Col Hendra Pesireron. The bodies of three soldiers were found at the post, while another was discovered in the bushes not far from the post, Pesireron informed, adding that another soldier, First Private Ikbal, remained untraceable.

Sihombing said two suspects had been arrested in connection with the attack and detained at South Sorong Police Precinct for investigation.

As of Friday, however, police investigators were still continuing their probe to determine the attackers’ motives and identify the armed group they belong to, he said.

“We still call the perpetrators as an unidentified group,” he said, adding that police investigators along with their colleagues from the 181/PVT District Military Command had conducted a crime scene investigation. Meanwhile, Commander of the XVIII/Kasuari Regional Military Command, Major General I Nyoman Castiasa, on Friday led a military procession as a mark of respect for the fallen soldiers before their caskets were transported to their hometowns for funeral.

Castiasa said the police had arrested two suspects in relation to the Kisor military post attack, but he has yet to know the exact number of perpetrators responsible for the killing of the four soldiers.

He appealed to several members of the community in West Papua who still oppose the state to end the conflict and work together to develop the province for the sake of prosperity for all. “If they are stubborn and continue their campaign of insurgency, they will be crushed,” he remarked.

The assault on the Kisor military post in West Papua has added to the list of cases of armed violence in Papua and highlighted the grave danger posed by Papuan separatist terrorists.

Source: Antara News