JAKARTA – Indonesian authorities opened fire on Papuan protesters, killing six people, as they tried to storm a local government office in the Deiyai region on Wednesday, reported news website Suarapapua.com citing a separatist group spokesman.
“The shooting is still happening right now, we don’t know how many victims there are,” Markus Haluk, an executive of pro-independence United Liberation Movement for West Papua, told Reuters by telephone.
National police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo dismissed the media report of protesters being killed as “a provocation”, adding that only information from the Papuan police can be trusted.
Papuan military spokesman Eko Daryanto said some officers were shot by arrows.
“We don’t know yet how many victims because communication from there has been limited,” he told Reuters by phone. (Reuters)
