At least 20 killed, dozens injured in fresh unrest in Indonesia's Papua


Devdiscourse News Desk | Jakarta | Updated: 07-02-2020 12:51 IST | Created: 23-09-2019 18:13 IST
At least 20 killed, dozens injured in fresh unrest in Indonesia's Papua
  • Country:
  • Indonesia

At least 20 people have been killed and dozens have been injured in fresh unrest in Indonesia's Papua on Monday, AFP news agency reported citing Indonesia military.

The military spokesman said earlier that one Indonesian soldier was killed during the clash with students while some media reports suggested three students also died in the incident that marks a new escalation in unrest in the easternmost area.

Fresh unrest broke out in Indonesia's restive Papua region on Monday as protesters burned down a government office and other buildings in Wamena city.

Houses and stores also went up in flames as hundreds took to the streets, while another demonstration erupted in the provincial capital Jayapura, where security forces fired warning shots above stone-throwing protesters at a university.

The latest unrest comes as Papua, on the western half of New Guinea island, has been gripped by weeks of violent protests fuelled by anger over racism, as well as fresh calls for self-rule in the impoverished territory.

Resource-rich Papua - which is home to the world's biggest gold mine and its second-biggest copper mine Grasberg - was a Dutch colony that was incorporated into Indonesia after a controversial U.N. backed referendum in 1969. Since then, the region has endured decades of mostly low-level separatist conflict.

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