REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAYAPURA - The bodies of two police officers Zulkifli and Prayoga shot dead by suspected separatists were in the process of evacuation to Jayapura, Papua, on Tuesday.

The body of the Zulkifly was in the process of evacuation from Wamena and that of Prayoga from Tiom to Wamena and from Wamena to the provincial city, Deputy chief of the Papua police Brig. Gen. Paulus Waterpaw said on Tuesday.  Evacuation of the two bodies to Jayapura could not be made at once as the body of Prayoga was found only on Monday afternoon that it could not be carried to Wamena at once, Waterpaw said.

"Hopefully the process of evacuation could be carried out without incident," he said.

The two were killed in an ambush in the regency of Lanny Jaya at Jalan Pirime leading to Maki where Papua police chief Ins. Gen Tito Karnavian and his party were attacked by a group of armed civilians in 2012.

The road on a steep mountain slope was winding making whoever in the road an easy target of ambush, Waterpauw said.

The village of Indawa is around 10 kilometers from Pirime or 45 km from Tiom, the municipal town of the regency of Lanny Jaya. Papua police spokesman Sr. Comr. Sulistyo Pudjo said the four police officers in the group were hit at the ambush in the district of Lanny Jaya.

Papua remains a hot spot for the country with separatist rebels still hiding in mountain jungles waiting for any opportunity to attack. They also incite local people especially those in isolated areas to join them against the government.  

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