30 Nov 2010

One dead and six wounded in Papua roadside shooting

9:52 am on 30 November 2010

Reports from Papua in Indonesia say unidentified gunmen have shot at traffic outside Jayapura, killing a motorcyclist and injuring six others, including a nine-year child in a public bus.

Paula Makabori from the Institute for Papuan Advocacy and Human Rights says the victims in Sunday morning's attack were mainly Indonesians.

She says the shooting comes just days before the 49th anniversary of the West Papuan Declaration of Independence from Dutch colonial rule.

Ms Makabori says the killing appears superficially to have been carried out by pro-independence guerrillas.

But she says the Indonesian military are most likely responsible and she's called for an independent investigation because Indonesian police cannot look into a possible covert operation by soldiers.