REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- A group of armed rebels killed an Indonesian soldier at Mbua Subdistrict, Nduga District, Papua Province, in an attack on a military post on Sunday (Dec 2), a police spokesman said here on Tuesday. The confirmation on the death of the Indonesian soldier was received from four PT Istaka Karya workers who survived the killings, Spokesman of the Papua Provincial Police Senior Commissioner A. M. Kamal said.

On Tuesday morning, 153 military and police personnel were transported to Mbua, which is the closest sub-district to Yigi Subdistrict, he noted, adding that two of the four workers who survived the killing sustained shot wounds when they were found by the on-duty security personnel.

The wounded workers were identified as Martinus Sampe and Jefrianto, while two other survivors were identified as Irawan, a Telkomsel employee, and John, a worker of a local health center, he added.

The four survivors were quoted as saying that the armed separatists destroyed the military post in Mbua Subdistrict and killed one soldier. In conducting their attack, the rebels were assisted by around 250 local residents, he remarked.

Subdistrict, Nduga District, Papua Province.

The workers, who survived the attack, had been transported to Wamena for medical checkup.

Meanwhile, Maritime Affairs Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that the murder of the bridge development workers in Papua Province was a sinister act. "This is proof that there are still people who want to kill people involved in development. This is an unscrupulous act," Panjaitan stated.

However, he acknowledged that he had not yet received the complete information on the incident which befell the bridge construction workers. He did not know whether the workers were guarded by the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) personnel.

It was earlier reported that 31 workers of the company were killed in the attack. However, President Director of PT Istaka Karya Sigit Winarto remarked that the company, so far, confirmed that 28 workers had become victims.

"However, we are still coordinating to know the real number. We have not been able to ascertain the number of victims," Winarto remarked during a press conference at the Ministry of Public Works and Housing related to the tragedy that befell bridge construction workers in Papua Province on Tuesday.

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