\u201cWe cannot send many personnel there because Nduga is a difficult area to reach\u201d, says police spokesperson
\n Papua
\nSeparatist fighters in Indonesia\u2019s Papua region have taken a New Zealand pilot hostage after setting a small commercial plane alight when it landed in a remote highland area on Tuesday, a pro-independence group said in a statement.
\nA police spokesperson in Papua province, Ignatius Benny Adi Prabowo, said authorities were investigating the incident, with police and military personnel sent to the area to locate the pilot and five passengers.
\n\u201cWe cannot send many personnel there because Nduga is a difficult area to reach. We can only go there by plane,\u201d he said.
\nA military spokesperson in Papua, Herman Taryaman, said the pilot had been identified as Captain Philip Merthens and it was unclear if the five accompanying passengers had also been abducted.
\nThe plane operated by Susi Air landed safely early on Tuesday morning, before being attacked by rebel fighters, authorities said.
\nThe West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement seen by Reuters, saying the pilot would not be released until the Indonesian government acknowledged the independence of West Papua – which refers to the western side of New Guinea island.
\nThe TPNPB made no mention of the passengers, but said this was the second time the group had taken a hostage. The first incident was in 1996.
\nThe New Zealand embassy in Jakarta and the Indonesian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment
\nIndonesia\u2019s easternmost provinces have been wracked with a low-level battle for independence since the resource-rich region was controversially brought under Indonesian control in a vote overseen by the United Nations in 1969.
\nThe conflict has escalated significantly since 2018, with pro-independence fighters mounting deadlier and more frequent attacks.
\nThe increased intensity of these attacks have been enabled by an improved ability to obtain more weapons, including by raiding and stealing from army posts, cross-border purchases and the illegal sale of government-issued weapons, the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict said in a report last year.
\nSusi Air founder and former fisheries minister Susi Pudjiastuti said on Twitter she was praying for the safety of the pilot and passengers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cWe cannot send many personnel there because Nduga is a difficult area to reach\u201d, says police spokesperson Papua Separatist fighters in Indonesia\u2019s Papua region have taken a New Zealand pilot hostage after setting a small commercial plane alight when it landed in a remote highland area on Tuesday, a pro-independence group said in a statement. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312401,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-312358","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n