Policeman killed in insurgency-hit Indonesian province

By Ainur Rohmah

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (AA) - A policeman was killed and six others were injured during clashes with an armed group near the Freeport mine in eastern Papua Province Saturday, according to police Monday.

Papua has been home to a low-level insurgency ever since the former Dutch colony was transferred to Indonesian rule in 1963.

Despite its wealth of resources, the province is among the most impoverished and has witnessed the arrest of political prisoners and alleged abuses by security forces over the decades.

Senior Police Commissioner Ahmad Kamal told Anadolu Agency said the casualties took place when police pursued an armed group Saturday after two patrol cars, one of which was driven by an American citizen, came under attack.

Gunmen shot and injured four more policemen when they were evacuating the slain officer’s body.

The slain policeman will be flown to capital Jakarta and buried in his home origin, Kamal said.

In Feb. 2013, seven unarmed military personnel were killed by armed groups in Sinak while trying to unload communications equipment that had arrived by plane.