REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Indonesian security personnel should crush the armed Papuan rebels who had brutally killed 31 construction workers of the Trans-Papua Road project, a politician said. Deputy Chairman of the Great Indonesian Movement (Gerindra) Party, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad also urged the authorities to find the four missing workers.

"This shooting case must be a lesson for all related institutions, including the National Police, Military, and National Intelligence Agency (BIN)," Sufmi said in his press statement made available to Antara here, on Monday.

According to Ahmad, the slaying of 31 Indonesian citizens is not a simple case. It needs to be handled comprehensively, but the priority should be given to the four missing workers.

No one can point fingers at a certain institution. Instead, the priority should be to find the four ill-fated workers whose whereabouts remain unknown, as the state should be able to protect each of its citizens, he remarked. Capturing the perpetrators who killed the workers in Nduga District, Papua Province, on Dec 2, should also be conducted immediately to prevent them from repeating their acts of crime, he revealed.

In making this collaborative effort a success, all related institutions must be able to work in synergy by using all networks, resources, and technological capability. The people, at large, have been awaiting the state's tough actions against the armed Papuan rebels, he added.

According to Lt Col Dax Sianturi, the spokesman of XVII/Cendrawasih regional military command, as of last Friday, the Indonesian military and police personnel have found 16 corpses of workers in the sub-districts of Yigi and Mbua, Nduga District.

The security personnel continued to update information on the victims, including the workers of PT Istaka Karya. On the day of the shootings, 28 workers of PT Istaka Karya were on the ground, he noted.

Seven of them survived the brutal killings. Nine others were confirmed dead, while seven workers, who also died, could not as yet be identified. Five other workers were still missing, he noted. The armed rebels also killed a soldier named Handoko and injured two other security personnel Sugeng and Wahyu, he added.

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