JAKARTA, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) — Three Indonesian soldiers were killed and a soldier was seriously wounded in an ambush by an armed-guerrilla group in the country’s easternmost province of Papua, a military officer said on Thursday.
The Papua Cendrawasih Military Command’s spokesman Aqsha Erlangga said in a statement that on Thursday morning the National Liberation Army of West Papua (TPNBP) fighters ambushed a military outpost in Gome sub-district, Puncak district, on the region’s highlands.
During the gunfight, the rebels shot dead three military personnel and seriously injured a soldier who is now in a critical condition, Erlangga said.
A TPNBP spokesperson confirmed that the attack was carried out by the group.
The Indonesian military and police have frequently been engaged in conflicts with the separatists in Papua, causing casualties from both sides.
The TPNBP based in the province has been seeking an independent state through guerrilla wars since decades ago, targeting military and police personnel as well as civilians.
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