Jayapura. Indonesia on Monday temporarily shut down its border with Papua New Guinea at the village of Wutung, Papua, two days before the archipelago’s legislative contests over the possibility of separatist-induced election violence.
“Border access [at the village] between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea has been closed down due to the approaching elections,” Brig. Gen. Hinca Siburian, a member of the Cendrawasih Military Command, which oversees the Indonesian Military’s (TNI) operations in the provinces of Papua and West Papua, said. “This is not over the shooting incident that occurred last Saturday — this is the KPU’s [General Elections Committee] agenda during the voting period.”
An Indonesian soldier and Papua Police official suffered minor injuries during a firefight between police and members of the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM) on the border of the two countries on Saturday.
Around 40 members of the OPM fired on a watch tower at a military post in Wutung. They also took down the Indonesian flag and raised the banned Morning Star flag — a symbol of Papuan independence.
Afterward, the perpetrators hopped over the border back into PNG.
Hinca said the army will still keep an eye on the border areas in anticipation of possible threats from separatist groups during the election.
“We’re on alert — we won’t let separatists disturb the elections,” he said.
Source/Fuente: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/indonesia-closes-png-border-area-ahe...
