The atrocities committed by the Papuan Separatist and Terrorist Group (KST) are indeed things that really deserve to be criticized because they are very barbaric and even full of cunning tricks. They do not hesitate to use women and children as human shields to carry out their actions.
The Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), Admiral Yudo Margono, revealed that KST Papua is indeed a group that is very cruel, sadistic and also cunning. How could it not be, because they used women and children to be able to ambush TNI soldiers on a mission to search for Susi Air Pilot, Captain Philip Mark Mehrtens in Nduga, Papua Mountains.
KST Papua’s cunning by taking advantage of these women and children made the security forces from the combined TNI, Indonesian National Police (Polri) and State Intelligence Agency (BIN) panic and be overwhelmed by the group.
The Commander-in-Chief added that as many as 36 TNI soldiers who were carrying out operations in the search for the Susi Air Pilot on Saturday, April 15, 2023, had actually received information about the pilot’s whereabouts, namely in the Mugi-Mam area, Nduga Regency.
After knowing the location or position of the Susi Air Pilot being taken hostage by KST Papua, then Commander Yudo emphasized that he would continue to conduct a search in a conducive manner so as to minimize casualties.
However, it turned out that later the operation that the security forces wanted to carry out in the rescue mission for the Susi Air pilot was discovered by the KST Papua, triggering a firefight between the security forces and the separatist group. During the shooting, the separatist group used women and children to ambush TNI soldiers, causing the security forces to panic.
The attack resulted in Pratu Miftahul Arifin being shot and fell into a ravine as deep as 15 meters. The operations troops were then in a defensive position to face the attack. The TNI Commander added that with the ambush that was carried out and the exchange of fire that occurred, one of his soldiers became a victim and fell into a ravine.
Yudo said that at that time the soldiers were in a position of being beaten up, especially from women and children who were involved in KST. This condition made the soldiers panic. For information, KST launched an attack on TNI soldiers in the Mugi-Mam area, Nduga Regency on Saturday (15/4) at around 16.30 WIT.
Regarding this matter, Kapendam XVII/Cenderawasih Colonel Herman Taryaman said the soldiers initially searched for the Susi Air pilot. Next they were suddenly attacked by KST.
Even with all the cunning that was done by KST Papua, the security forces were still able to defend themselves well enough so that they did not cause more victims to fall. Therefore, high appreciation should be given to the security forces, especially regarding their commitment and hard work to be able to carry out the mission of rescuing Susi Air pilots.
Not only that, the entire security apparatus from the joint personnel of the TNI, Polri and BIN are also continuing to make efforts to enforce the law against Papuan separatist and terrorist groups.
The cunning effort carried out by KST Papua actually adds to the barrage of lots of clear evidence that the group led by Egianus Kogoya continues to carry out very barbaric actions, because they are not at all reluctant to kill and even rape innocent civilians.
The Egianus Kogoya group uses children and women as living shields to protect their group, including when they are about to be arrested by the Indonesian National Police (TNI) security forces. Using children and women as shields to protect human rights, however, it cannot be denied that the evidence of a series of cruelty and sadism killing and raping civilians, as well as shooting and attacking the Indonesian National Police shows that Egianus Kogoya is a true human rights violator.
As disclosed by Danrem 172/PWY Brigadier General JO Sembiring that the KST led by Egianus Kogoya and his group used children and women as shields, with the aim that human rights violations were always aimed at the Indonesian National Police.
He added, currently, TNI Polri soldiers are already trained, and can distinguish what needs to be done and what doesn’t need to be done. Human rights are a Soldier’s guideline in carrying out their duties, because that is the basis for soldiers in carrying out their duties in the field, especially in enforcing the 2023 law in the Nduga region and its surroundings which is currently underway.
When carrying out all its savage and sadistic actions, KST Papua is even very cruel and cunning because they willingly take advantage of and use women and children to serve as human shields, which in the future they can intimidate security forces and carry out ambushes on security forces and accuse them back by using it as if there were human rights violations committed by TNI, Polri and BIN personnel.
)* The author is a Papuan student living in Yogyakarta
