Pacific / West Papua

Two Indonesian army officers arrested for Papua killing

19:37 pm on 29 August 2015

Two Indonesian army officers have been arrested for allegedly killing two men and injuring two others in Papua region.

The Jakarta Post reports that conflicting details have emerged over what exactly happened, but the victims have been identified as Imanuel Mailmaur and Yulianus Okoare.

Soon after the incident, a Papua military spokesperson, Teguh Pudji Rahardjo, said the shooting happened when a soldier was attacked by a mob in Timika, prompting troops to fire into the crowd.

But the commander of the Merauke Regional Command, Brigadier General Supartodi, told the newspaper that the officers were drunk when they opened fire into the crowd, and have been arrested.

The Papua police chief, Brigadier General Paulus Waterpauw is currently in Timika to assist with the handling of the situation.