Reports emerging from Indonesia's Papua province indicate that as many as 13 people could have been killed by soldiers on a rampage in the town of Wamena.
The military mobilised an entire troop battalion around Wamena after two soldiers were attacked on Wednesday in retaliation for running down a Papuan boy in their car.
Johnny Blades reports
"One of the soldiers died after allegedly being stabbed while the other was hospitalised. The soldiers' battalion was mobilised after learning of their comrade's death. Witness reports say the troops opened fire around the town using live rounds against any Papuans they saw. A national police spokesman said the soldiers shot one man dead and wounded 17 people and set dozens of homes on fire before calm was restored yesterday. However various rights groups in the region put the death toll as high as 13 and say hundreds of homes were burnt as the soldiers rampaged, sending thousands of Papuans fleeing from the town."
