The Union of Papuan Baptist Churches has added its voice to claims that the Indonesian military is engineering attacks in the province and blaming them on Papuan separatists.
The head of the Union, Reverend Socratez Sofyan Yoman, says a series of recent violent incidents in Papua were premeditated acts by groups connected with the military, and he's urged Police to arrest the perpetrators.
There have now been 13 reported deaths in attacks across Papua this month, notwithstanding the eleven reported deaths from fighting between Indonesian military and alleged separatists on the PNG border last week.
Reverend Socratez says for many years now, the military has been manipulating such situations in a bid to destabilise the region.
"And always blame, accuse the Papuans or OPM but it's untrue. We know about that. Because they want to get benefit from that, they want to get more money, military equipment. They want to bring more troops to West Papua."
Socratez Sofyan Yoman
