TWO FREEPORT SECURITY OFFICERS WOUNDED IN SHOOTING INCIDENT

Timika, Sept 12 (ANTARA) - Two security officers of PT Freeport in restive Papua province were wounded when a bus they were traveling in was attacked by unidentified gunmen at 8:50 a.m. local time on Saturday.

The incident in which Anselmus Gao and Gelke Pangkerego, the two PT Freeport security officers, were wounded happened at Mile 42-43 on the rooad between Timika and Tembagapura.

Papua police spokesman Senior Commissioner Agus Rianto said Anselmus Gao and Gelke Pangkerego were among 14 passengers of a bus driven by Dani Leu.

Agus Rianto said Anselmus Gao and Gelke Pangkerego, who sustained shrapnel wounds on his right cheek and right leg, had been evacuated to a Freeport clinic at Kuala Kencana for medical treatment.

He said the case was being investigated by local police.

Earlier, on Wednesday (Sept 9, 2009), Tembagapura Military subdistrict chief Captain Ronald Nainggolan's car was shot at by unknown gunmen at Mile 41-42 but Nainggolan was unharmed
On the same day at 7:30 p.m., Timika Task Force post Amole II at Mile 54 was also attacked twice by unknown gunmen.

The separatist Free Papua Organization (OPM) was blamed for last Wednesday's shootings but Army Chief of Staff Gen Agustadi Sasongko Purnomo later denied the OPM was involved.

Agustadi said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the spate of shooting incidents in PT Freeport Indonesia's concession area in Timika, was the work of criminal trouble-makers (GPK), not that of the separatist Free Papua Organization (OPM).

"Yes, this is what people should know; the shooting incidents were the work of GPK who were sent to Papua to disturb security in the region," he said on the sidelines of a fast-breaking gathering on Wednesday.

The Army chief of staff said his side was continuously coordinating with the police to overcome various security challenges in the region including the shooting incidents in the PT Freeport area.

"It is possible that the GPK members have been on location before or after the party passed," he said, adding that Papua is one of the vulnerable regions that need to be given special attention.