Intelligence Observer Calls Charges To BIN Using Mortar Hoax And Separatist Group Propaganda

Coat of arms of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) (Photo: Instagram @binofficial_ri)

JAKARTA - The State Intelligence Agency (BIN) has denied the use of mortars from Serbia in attacks on several villages in Papua in 2021. The report on the use of mortars was submitted by the London-based monitoring group Conflict Armament Research (CAR) as written by Reuters, Thursday, June 16. .

In the arms monitoring group's report and photos provided to Reuters, nearly 2,500 mortars from Serbia were purchased and air-dropped onto eight villages in Papua. The purchase was also said to have not been reported to the DPR RI.

Deputy II of BIN in charge of internal security, Major General Edmil Nurjamil, strongly denied the report and called it a hoax. BIN does not have the weapon in question.

"No, nothing. Yes, we don't have that," he explained to the media crew at the Ministry of Home Affairs office some time ago. Edmil said the artillery weapons found in Papua belonged to the TNI. And BIN, he stressed, never bought mortars from Serbia. "No. Yes, the Commander in Chief has acknowledged that it is a TNI weapon. We don't play games like that. Commander of the Military Command. I have already conveyed which month it is," he said.

Intelligence and security observer Stanislaus Ryanta also spoke about this. He believed that BIN could not possibly have weapons of destruction. Because BIN's job is to collect information, not carry out military operations.

"Everyone knows that. Information about the use of mortars is clearly a cruel accusation with a misleading disinformation strategy," said Stanislaus Ryanta when contacted in Jakarta, Saturday, June 18.

Stanis even called it a hoax. Moreover, some time ago sympathizers and supporters of separatism in Papua also distributed edited videos that intended to corner the Indonesian government. In fact, the video was edited, not fact.

"What we regret is that hoaxes like this are carried out systematically to damage the image of state institutions that have clearly worked hard to maintain state security," he continued.

He continued, the spread of hoaxes with the issue of the use of weapons of mass destruction in Papua is part of the strategy for the struggle of the separatists wherever they are, including Papua.

"There is such a thing as active measures. It was a political war strategy historically used by the Soviet Union in the 1920s. Separatist groups in the world often apply this strategy. There are scenarios of disinformation, propaganda, deception, sabotage, and so on. I see this is also used by many people to support an independent Papua”, he said.

"Supporters of the separatists are used to spreading propaganda and hoaxes to corner state authorities and seek international support. Because that's how they fight," he said.

Returning to the CAR report, the mortar was manufactured by Serbian state-owned arms maker Krusik and later modified to be dropped from the air rather than from a mortar tube. It said the weapons sent to BIN also included 3,000 electronic initiators and three timers normally used to detonate explosives.

81mm mortar rounds were used in attacks in October on villages in Papua, an Indonesian province where a decades-long campaign by armed separatists has accelerated in recent years.