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Indonesian military recovers body of pilot killed in Papua Highlands
Indonesian security forces recovered the body of American pilot Nicholas F. Goselin on Friday after armed separatists shot him dead and burned his aircraft the previous day in Papua Highlands province. The plane carried seven unharmed indigenous Papuan passengers. Rebels claimed responsibility and warned of further attacks on civilian flights.
AJ
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Indonesian security forces recovered the body of American pilot Nicholas F. Goselin on Friday in Papua Highlands province. Goselin, employed by Indonesian aviation company PT AMA, was shot dead on Thursday shortly after landing at the Ipdeheik airstrip in Balinggama village, Yahukimo regency. The plane carried seven indigenous Papuan passengers, including three women, who were unharmed.
A 10-member team from the Habema Operations Command secured the remote airstrip with three helicopters before retrieving the body, said Brig. Gen. Riyanto, deputy commander of the operation. The Indonesian military denied that the aircraft had carried troops.
Rebels from the West Papua Liberation Army claimed responsibility. Rebel spokesman Sebby Sambom said the aircraft violated the group’s ban on civilian flights in operational zones. He alleged that civilian planes have been used to transport Indonesian military personnel and logistics, and he stated that the American pilot was killed because the aircraft continued operating despite the group’s warning.
Sambom called on Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to open international negotiations to resolve the Papua conflict. “The shooting of the American pilot is the result of the failure of the Indonesian, U.S. and Dutch governments, as well as the United Nations, to address the root causes of the conflict in Papua, which has persisted for 64 years,” he said in a statement.
He urged the United Nations to facilitate talks involving the Indonesian government, the TPNPB and Papuan representatives, and warned that the group would target other civilian aircraft it believes are assisting military operations.
Papua was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 under a United Nations-sponsored ballot, triggering a decades-old insurgency that has intensified in the past year.
