20 Jul 2015

One shot dead in religious violence in Papua

3:37 pm on 20 July 2015

Police have reportedly opened fire on protesters in Indonesia's Papua province, in an incident they are blaming on church officials.

Indonesia's new national police chief, Police General Badrodin Haiti

The National police chief General Badrodin Haiti Photo: AFP

The National police chief, General Badrodin Haiti, says police shot at people on Sunday in Tolikara, as they were pelting stones at Muslims who were praying.

The Antara News agency reports one attacker was killed and 11 others wounded in the incident.

He says the violence may have been prompted by a circular letter distributed a week earlier, bearing the signatures of local church officials.

General Haiti says he was sent to investigate after the President, Joko Widodo, asked for a report about the letter.

General Haiti says he calls on all parties, including community members, religious figures and administrative officials, to help to get at the root cause of the incident.