27 Jan 2014

Four deaths in fire fight in Indonesia's Papua province

9:14 am on 27 January 2014

Three insurgents and one soldier have died in a firefight in the remote Indonesian province of Papua, near the controversial US-owned Freeport-McMoRan gold and copper mine.

The Associated Press in Indonesia reports a spokesperson for the Indonesian army said the clash broke out on Friday when about 25 soldiers and police launched a security operation in Puncak Jaya.

A rebel spokesman could not be reached for comment.

The fatal encounter was the latest round of violence near the mine run by Freeport-McMoRan, one of the world's largest copper and gold producers.

The Papua chapter of the National Commission for Human Rights says more than 50 people, including nine soldiers, were killed during clashes in the province late last year.

The Indonesian government does not allow foreign media to freely report in Papua, where it has tens of thousands of troops. The site of Friday's clash was inaccessible to local reporters.