ASEAN Beat | Security | Southeast Asia

Indonesia Recovers Body of American Pilot Killed by Papuan Separatists

The West Papua National Liberation Army has a history of targeting aircraft servicing remote parts of the Papuan highlands.

A village in the Baliem Valley in Yahukimo Regency, in Indonesia’s Highland Papua province.

Indonesia’s military says that it has recovered the body of an American pilot who was shot dead by separatist insurgents ​in the eastern region of Papua yesterday, in what the rebels described as a “message” to the U.S. and Indonesian governments.

Sebby Sambom, a spokesperson for the ​West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), the armed wing of the Free Papua Organization, said yesterday ⁠that its troops shot dead American pilot Nicholas F. Gosselin after he landed at an airstrip in the Yahukimo regency of Highland Papua province.

He accused the aircraft of transporting Indonesian military personnel into the area.

“We immediately fired upon and burned the plane because it had violated the TPNPB ultimatum,” he said. “We are prepared to fire upon any civilian aircraft across the Land of Papua that assists Indonesian military forces in transporting troops or military logistics.”

The attack was a message to the Indonesian ​and U.S. governments for “failing to address the root causes of the conflict in Papua between ​the Indonesian military and the West Papua National Liberation Army,” Sebby added.

Today, Wirya Artadiguna, a military spokesperson ‌in Papua, ⁠confirmed that Gosselin’s body had been recovered and evacuated, and said that the military was seeking those responsible.

In a separate statement quoted by BBC News, Indonesia’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation........

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