Kapendam: Residents Of Maybrat Afraid To Go To The Village Because Of Threats By Separatist Terrorist Groups

MANOKWARI - A joint TNI team is still pursuing a terrorist separatist group (KST) that attacked the Kisor Koramil Post of Kodim 1809/Maybrat, in South Aifat Village, Maybrat Regency, West Papua.

Head of information for Kodam XVIII/Kasuari, Medan Artillery Colonel Hendra Pesireron, said the joint team had occupied a number of villages that had been the location of the group's terror.

"In general, the situation in Maybrat Regency is conducive, the joint team is already in a number of villages to ensure the safety of the community," he said, quoted by Antara, Wednesday, September 8.

Colonel Hendra said that on September 5, 2021, the joint team had had armed contact with KST members in the village of the East Aifat District.

"When the team conducted a search, it was found that a number of KST members had damaged the pedestrian bridge facility in the East Aifat area. There was a shootout but the group fled to the forest faster," he said.

He also asked the civil society in the villages of South Aifat and East Aifat not to panic because the joint team's sweeping target was KST who attacked the TNI AD post in Kisor Village.

"We have appealed to the community to return to their villages to carry out their usual activities, because we have the identities of the perpetrators in our pockets. We will not mistarget or threaten people who do not know anything," said Colonel Hendra.

There were reports from the public, he said, that KST had terrorized and intimidated civil society so that they would not return to their villages.

"We received reports from the public that they were afraid not because of the presence of the NKRI apparatus, but because they were threatened with death by KST if they returned to the village," he said.