The joint task force of police and soldiers in charge of the search said on Tuesday that the body of a New Zealand chopper pilot who was shot dead by rebels in the volatile Papua region of eastern Indonesia had been found.
Monday saw the death of Glen Malcolm Conning, 50, a pilot with PT Intan Angkasa Air Service, who had arrived in Papua with two Indonesian medical personnel and two children, all of whom had made it out alive.
According to a statement from the Cartenz Peace Taskforce, which was formed to deal with Papua separatists, his body was taken from the isolated region of Alama and brought to Timika city.
“The body of the pilot has been evacuated from the Alama district to Timika and arrived at 12:50 pm local time. The body is currently at the Mimika General Hospital for an autopsy,” Cartenz spokesman Bayu Suseno said.
On Monday, Mimika police chief I Komang Budiartha informed reporters that three helicopters had been sent out to aid in the hunt.
A representative for the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said AFP early on Tuesday that the ministry was aware of the pilot’s death reports and that its embassy in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, was inquiring with the authorities for more details.
The murder occurred fewer than two years after West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) militants kidnapped Phillip Mehrtens, another New Zealand pilot. He’s still been captured.
Sebby Sambom, a spokesperson for the TPNPB, did not reply to an AFP request for comment on Tuesday.
In exchange for Mehrten’s release, the insurgent group has previously asked that Indonesia recognize the independence of Papua New Guinea.
Former Dutch colony Papua declared its independence in 1961, but two years later, Indonesia, a neighbor, took it with the promise of a vote. In a ballot supported by the UN, a thousand Papuans chose to become part of Indonesia in 1969.
Activists for Papuan independence frequently criticize the results and demand new elections, while Jakarta maintains that the UN supports its sovereignty over Papua.
