Wamena (Indonesia): At least 20 people were killed and dozens more injured as fresh unrest erupted in Indonesia’s restive Papua region Monday, with some victims burned to death in buildings set ablaze by protesters, authorities said.
“Most of them died in a fire,” said Papua military spokesman Eko Daryanto here, Monday. “The death toll could go up because many were trapped in burning kiosks,” he added.
Papua, on the western half of New Guinea island, has been gripped by weeks of violent protests fuelled by anger over racism, as well as fresh calls for self-rule in the impoverished territory.
Monday, 16 people died in Wamena city where hundreds demonstrated and burned down a government office and other buildings earlier in the day, authorities said.
Among the victims, 13 were non-Papuans and three were Papuans, Daryanto said, adding that a soldier and three civilians also died in provincial capital Jayapura, where security forces and stone-throwing protesters clashed. The soldier was stabbed to death, the military said. It was not immediately clear how the civilians in Jayapura died.
About 300 people were arrested in connection with Monday’s protests. In the clashes throughout the day 65 persons were injured, 22 of them being critical.
The protests Monday here – mostly involving high school students – were reportedly sparked by racist comments made by a teacher, but police have disputed that account as a ‘hoax’.
Indonesia routinely blames separatists for violence in Papua, its easternmost territory, and conflicting accounts are common.
AFP