REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Around 90 people have attempted to find their relatives killed by armed Papuan rebels. The armed criminal group launched a deadly attack on workers of the Trans Papua road construction, in Nduga District, Papua Province, on Sunday (Dec 2).

Titus, a local resident who Antara met at the 1702/Jayawijaya district military command on Tuesday, stated that one of his family members went to Nduga District for transporting construction materials on Nov 29.

"My relative's name is Caling. He works for the road construction project. I want to know if or not he has become one of the victims of the attack," Titus noted.

The attack by the armed group killed 28 workers of PT Istaka Karya, who were engaged in construction and building the Trans Papua project.

Spokesman of the Papua Provincial Police Senior Commissioner A.M. Kamal remarked that an Indonesian soldier was also killed in an attack on a military post on Sunday. The confirmation on the death of the Indonesian soldier was received from four workers of PT Istaka Karya who survived the attack.

On Tuesday morning, 153 military and police personnel were transported to Mbua, which is the closest sub-district to Yigi Subdistrict, he remarked, 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 revealed.

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

Meanwhile, Maritime Affairs Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan noted 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 efforts. This is an unscrupulous act," Pandjaitan explained.

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

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