Freeport: Security guard killed in Indonesia
JAKARTA, Indonesia — A U.S. mining company says a security guard has been killed and five people injured in a shooting near its Indonesian mining operations.
A statement issued to The Associated Press by Freeport on Sunday says gunfire broke out in Papua, near where an Australian employee was killed a day earlier. An investigation was under way.
Freeport said “shots were fired at two security vehicles, fatally wounding one (PT Freeport) contract security employee.” Five other people had minor injuries.
Papua, a desperately poor and militarized province on Indonesia’s easternmost tip, is home to separatist rebels who denounce PT Freeport as a symbol of Jakarta’s rule.
Two Americans and an Indonesian were killed in 2002 in an ambush near Freeport’s Grasberg operations.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Shooting broke out Sunday between Indonesian security forces and suspected rebels in Papua, near to where an Australian employee of the U.S. mining giant Freeport was killed a day earlier, police and company officials said.
Officials said they could not confirm local media reports that Freeport security guards were shot in the incident.
“Suspected separatist rebels ambushed and opened fire on the police’s anti-terror unit members who were searching for perpetrators” of Saturday’s killing, said Papua police chief Bagus Ekodanto.
“We cannot confirm any casualties. We are waiting for further information,” he said.
Freeport spokesman Mindo Pangaribuan confirmed the shooting, but gave no details.
Papua, a desperately poor and militarized province on Indonesia’s easternmost tip, is home to separatist rebels who denounce PT Freeport as a symbol of Jakarta’s rule.
Two Americans were killed in an ambush in 2002 near Freeport’s Grasberg operations, a massive open-pit mine.
The Grasberg mining complex, one of the world’s largest single producers of copper and gold, has been a constant source of friction with local Papuans angered over the outflow of profit to foreign investors, while they remain poor.
Security was increased after Saturday’s killing and business was not disrupted, Pangaribuan said.
The Indonesian government does not allow foreign media to freely report in Papua, where it has tens of thousands of troops. The site of Saturday’s shooting was inaccessible to local reporters.
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