REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, TIMIKA -- More than one thousand residents of villages surrounding Tembagapura need to be evacuated to safer places, as these areas are under the control of armed criminal groups (KKB), according to the Mimika police.
"According to our data, there are some one thousand people, both Papuans and non-Papuans," Adjunct Senior Commissioner Victor Dean Mackbon, head of the Mimika Police Resort, said here, Wednesday.
They are currently trapped in the Utikini Lama, Kimbeli, Waa-Banti, Opitawak, and Aroanop villages.
The people include traditional miners seeking gold in the Aijkwa River that carries sand from PT Freeport Indonesia to the low lands of Mimika.
Their movements have been restricted, or they have even been intimidated by the groups, he said.
The local authorities have planned to move them to Timika, as security personnel plan to track down members of the KKB that have carried out acts of terror over the past several weeks.
On Monday (Nov 6), Papua Police Chief Inspector General Boy Rafli Amas and Commander of the Regional Military Command XVII/Cenderawasih Major General George Elnadus Supit saw off hundreds of police and military officers being deployed to maintain security in Tembagapura.
Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika
