JAYAPURA, Indonesia (AP) — Two people died and several others were injured Tuesday in a protest against the new autonomous region in Papua province, Indonesia, police said.
For three hours on Tuesday afternoon, the demonstration took place peacefully in Yahukimo district. But friction between people, in addition to provocations, broke that peace as the nearby buildings burned. Some attendees clashed with local police officers.
“There are victims of both the police and the community, who were affected by police actions that resulted in deaths,” Ahmad Musthofa Kamal, a spokesman for the Papua police, said in a statement.
Two people were shot dead by officers and several others were injured, including a policeman.
Kamal explained on Wednesday that the situation was under control and that the authorities planned to strengthen their presence in the protest area, in part to ensure that the police comply with procedural rules.
Conflicts between indigenous Papua people and Indonesian security forces are common in the impoverished region of Papua, a former Dutch colony in western New Guinea that is ethnically and culturally distinct from much of the country.
Papua joined Indonesia in 1969 after a United Nations-sponsored vote that was considered a farce. Since then, there has been a low-profile, mineral-rich insurgency in the region, which is divided into two provinces: Papua and West Papua.