Indonesian Security Forces: 19 Civilians And A Soldier Killed During Rioting In Two Towns In Papua

Reuters: Indonesia says 20 killed, scores hurt in fresh unrest in Papua

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian security forces said on Monday that 19 civilians and a soldier had been killed during rioting in two towns in Papua, in an escalation of violence in a region that in recent weeks has seen its most serious civil unrest in years over perceived ethnic racial discrimination.

Protests convulsed the country’s easternmost provinces of Papua and West Papua, on the island of New Guinea - collectively known as Papua - for two weeks in late August. The sometimes violent unrest erupted after a group of Papuan students in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second city on the island of Java, were taunted and attacked by a mob chanting racial epithets over accusations they had desecrated a national flag.

In the latest violence, a spokesman for military operations in Papua said 16 civilians were killed and 65 hurt in the town of Wamena, where protesters had set buildings ablaze.

Read more ....

More News On The Growing Unrest In Papua

20 killed, 70 hurt in protests in Indonesia’s Papua province -- AP
At least 20 killed, dozens injured in Papua unrest: Indonesia military. -- France 24
At least 20 dead in protests in Indonesia's West Papua -- Al Jazeera
One soldier dead as Papua violence erupts again, with buildings set alight and gunshots heard in towns of Wamena, Jayapura -- DW
Violent Protests in Papua Leave at Least 20 Dead -- The New York Times
At Least 20 Killed as Indonesia’s Papua Rocked by Fresh Violence -- Bloomberg