Jakarta - Indonesian security forces shot dead a separatist rebel during a raid Monday in the country's easternmost province of Papua, a state media report said.
The raid, launched jointly by the police and members of the military, was on a rebel hideout in Puncak Jaya district, the state-run Antara news agency reported.
Papua police spokesman Agus Rianto was quoted as saying that the suspect, a member of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) who was identified only by his initials WT, was shot during the raid. He said police also seized a number of bullets.
Rianto said the dead man was responsible for a recent attack against workers in the region that killed three.
The OPM, a small group of separatist rebels, has been waging a low-key rebellion in Papua, formerly Irian Jaya, since the early 1960s.
Papua, a predominantly ethnic Melanesian and Christian province, is a former Dutch colony that became an Indonesian province in 1964 after a vote involving tribal leaders many regarded as a sham.
Indonesian security forces kill rebel suspect in Papua | Earth Times News
Indonesian security forces kill rebel suspect in Papua | Earth Times News
May 19, 2010
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