JAKARTA
Up to five people have been killed in clashes between villagers in Papua and Indonesian security forces, local media reported Tuesday.
The Jakarta Post reported that four died and 22 were injured in the violence while Kompas news website reported five people dead.
The fighting occurred in Enarotali, East Paniai district, on Monday following clashes between locals and soldiers late Sunday. That violence began when local youths, some aged as young as 12, reprimanded a soldier driving without headlights, Papua police said.
John Gobai, a local civic leader, told The Anadolu Agency that security forces opened fire blindly on villagers gathering in a field.
"This triggered the residents to come into town to question the perpetrators and ask for an explanation from the security forces," he said. "A joint army and police force fired to try to disperse the crowds.”
Papua police chief, Inspector General Yotje Mende, said he was unsure how many had been killed. “Some say 13, six and four but it has not been verified,” he told Kompass. “We are still conducting logging."
The website reported that President Joko Widodo had received a report on the shooting on Tuesday morning.
The unrest in Paniai followed the shooting dead of two police officers in Ilaga, Puncak district.
Papua, a former Dutch colony in the western part of New Guinea, was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 and has a decades-long history of violent unrest relating to calls for independence.
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