A New Zealand pilot was killed on Monday when gunmen allegedly with the West Papua Liberation Army rebels stormed his helicopter in Indonesia's Papua region, according to the National Police in Papua, as cited by the Associated Press (AP).
Glen Malcolm Conning, a pilot for Indonesian aviation company PT Intan Angkasa Air Service, was reportedly shot and killed by gunmen soon after arriving in Alama, a remote village in the Mimika district of Central Papua province. Information about Conning's death came from Faizal Ramadhani, a senior officer in the National Police and head of the joint security peace force in Papua.
The AP reported that Ramadhani said gunmen allegedly with the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, released Indigenous Papuan passengers on board, including two health workers and two children, before setting fire to the aircraft and fleeing into the jungle.
"All passengers were safe because they were local residents of Alama village," Ramadhani told the AP, adding that the village is in a mountainous district which can be reached only by helicopter.
Newsweek reached out to National Police in Papua and the West Papua Liberation Army via email on Monday for comment.
West Papua Liberation Army spokesperson Sebby Sambom told the AP he had not received any reports from the group's fighters in regards to the pilot's death.
"But, if that happens, it was his own fault for entering our forbidden territory," Sambom said to the news agency. "We have released warnings several times that the area is under our restricted zone, an armed conflict area that is prohibited for any civilian aircraft to land."
Sambom also urged the Indonesian government to halt development in the region until negotiations with the rebels could take place.
The former Dutch colony of Papua has a history of conflict between Indigenous Papuans and Indonesian security forces. An insurgency has been present there since Papua was integrated into Indonesia in 1969 following a controversial U.N.-sponsored ballot. Over the past year, the conflict has intensified with numerous casualties, the AP reported.
Monday's incident comes after another pilot from New Zealand was targeted in the region last year. In February 2023, Philip Mark Mehrtens, a pilot from Christchurch working for Susi Air, was kidnapped by Egianus Kogoya, a regional commander in the Free Papua Movement.
Kogoya and his forces captured Mehrtens shortly after his plane in a remote village, demanding Papua's independence in exchange for his release. Earlier this year, a video of Mehrtens addressing his family from a remote jungle where he is still being held hostage was posted online.
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