Jakarta:
Five separatist rebels were shot dead in an exchange of gunfire with the Indonesian military, earlier today in the country's easternmost province of Papua, a commander said.
The shootout occurred in the district of Lanny Jaya in the mountainous central part of Papua, where two policemen were ambushed and killed earlier this week.
Jakarta has deployed a heavy military presence in the area to quell a low-level separatist movement, spearheaded by the Free Papua Movement (OPM).
"We have shot five OPM members, and two of our personnel were also grazed by bullets," said Papua military commander Christian Zebua.
The OPM has for decades waged an insurgency against Indonesian rule over the resource-rich but poor ethnically Melanesian region.
The shootout occurred in the district of Lanny Jaya in the mountainous central part of Papua, where two policemen were ambushed and killed earlier this week.
Jakarta has deployed a heavy military presence in the area to quell a low-level separatist movement, spearheaded by the Free Papua Movement (OPM).
"We have shot five OPM members, and two of our personnel were also grazed by bullets," said Papua military commander Christian Zebua.
The OPM has for decades waged an insurgency against Indonesian rule over the resource-rich but poor ethnically Melanesian region.
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