Gunmen kill one, wound six at Freeport mine office in Indonesia's Papua

March 31, 2020

One staff member of PT Freeport Indonesia was killed and six other people were wounded when attackers opened fire at an office of the Indonesian arm of mining company Freeport-McMoRan Inc. on Monday, police said.

Reuters reported that the gunmen opened fire at around 2 p.m. at the office in the city of Timika in Indonesia’s Papua province, the company PT Freeport Indonesia said in a statement.

Police said the attackers were members of an armed criminal group without going into further details.

Separatists have launched a string of attacks in recent years in the area around the company’s nearby Grasberg operation - the world’s second largest copper mine.

There have been sporadic shootings and ambushes on vehicles traveling on the main supply route to the mine.

Workers had been evacuated from the office in the city’s Kuala Kencana district and from the surrounding area, the company added.

Conditions were being “monitored and so far there is no direct impact” on mining operations, Freeport Indonesia spokesman Riza Pratama said by text message.

Papuan police spokesman Ahmad Mustafa Kamal identified the victim as a New Zealand citizen.

“Joint security forces are carrying out a pursuit in the forest area in Kuala Kencana,” Kamal said in the statement.

 

 

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