Gunmen kill New Zealand helicopter pilot in attack in Indonesia’s Papua region
Gunmen stormed a helicopter and killed its New Zealand pilot shortly after it landed in Indonesia’s restive Papua region, police have said.
The gunmen released two health workers and two children the helicopter was carrying on Monday.
Glen Malcolm Conning was a pilot for Indonesian aviation company PT Intan Angkasa Air Service.
He was shot dead by gunmen allegedly with the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, after landing in Alama, a remote village in the Mimika district of Central Papua province, said Faizal Ramadhani, a National Police member who heads the joint security peace force in Papua.
The gunmen released the Indigenous Papuan passengers and set fire to the aircraft, he said.
“All passengers were safe because they were local residents of Alama village,” said Mr Ramadhani, adding that the village is in a mountainous district that can be reached only by helicopter.
A joint security force was deployed to search for the attackers, who ran into the dense jungle.
New Zealand’s Foreign Ministry confirmed late on Tuesday that Mr Conning had been killed.
Consular officials in Jakarta were working with authorities to “understand more about the circumstances” surrounding the helicopter pilot’s death, the ministry said in a statement.
West Papua Liberation Army spokesman Sebby Sambom told The Associated Press he had not received any reports from fighters on the ground about the killing.
“But, if that happens, it was his own fault for entering our forbidden territory,” Sambom said.
“We have released warnings several times that the area is under our restricted zone, an armed conflict area that is prohibited for any civilian aircraft to land.”
Sambom called on Indonesian authorities to stop all development in Papua until the government is willing to negotiate with the rebels, and “if anyone disobeys, they must bear the risk themselves.”
Conflict has spiked in the past year, with dozens of rebels, security forces and civilians killed.
Monday’s killing was the latest violence against New Zealand nationals in the Papua region.
In February 2023, Egianus Kogoya, a regional commander in the Free Papua Movement, abducted Philip Mark Mehrtens, a pilot from Christchurch who was working for Indonesian aviation company Susi Air.
Kogoya and his troops stormed a single-engine plane shortly after it landed on a small runway in a mountainous village.
Planning to use the pilot to negotiate, Kogoya has said they will not release Mr Mehrtens unless Indonesia frees Papua as a sovereign country.
In 2020, seven employees of PT Freeport Indonesia, including a New Zealand miner, Graeme Thomas Wall from Ngaruawahia, were attacked by gunmen in a parking area in Tembagapura, a mining town.
Mr Wall was shot in his chest and died.
Papua was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a UN-sponsored ballot that was widely seen as a sham.
Since then, a low-level insurgency has simmered in the mineral-rich region, which is divided into six provinces.
'Our hearts are broken': Family of helicopter
pilot Glen Conning, killed in Papua, speak
out
The family of the New Zealand helicopter pilot who was killed in the Indonesian region of Papua say he was the most caring and loving husband and dad.
Glen Malcolm Conning, 50, was killed by a pro-independence group known as Free Papua Organisation (OPM) when rebels rounded up those on board the helicopter, including four passengers, after they landed in an isolated area in the Central Papua province. The passengers are reported to be safe.
In a statement released on Tuesday by Natasha Conning on behalf of his family, they say he is truly loved by his family and friends, who he cherished spending time with when he wasn't flying or being in the outdoors.
"Our hearts are broken from this devastating loss."
They say they appreciate the love and support they have received, but ask for privacy at this time.
Conning was shuttling passengers for a private company.
A spokesperson for the police special operation in Papua, Bayu Suseno, claimed his body was taken to the helicopter and then burned along with the aircraft in Alama District, which can only by accessed by helicopter.
OPM spokesman Sambom told the BBC that despite being unable to verify the claims, "if it was true, then the pilot is a spy because we have declared that the area is a war zone".
New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens was photographed with his rebel captors in Indonesia's Papua region. Photo: Supplied/TPNPB
In February 2023, separatist fighters in Indonesia's Papua region took another New Zealand pilot hostage. Phillip Mehrtens, 37, was captured shortly after landing his plane in the remote mountainous area of Nduga to drop off passengers.
Since then, Mehrtens has been held captive by West Papua National Liberation Army fighters (TPNPB) - the armed wing of the OPM - who also attacked a number of Indonesian troops sent to rescue him, killing at least one.
These hostile acts come in the context of a long-running, often brutally violent conflict between the Indonesian government and West Papua's indigenous people.
Papuan rebels have been seeking independence from Indonesia for decades, and have previously issued threats and attacked aircraft which they believe are carrying personnel and supplies for Jakarta, the country's capital.
The region is divided into six provinces and is separate from independent Papua New Guinea.
Previously a Dutch colony, West Papua declared independence in 1961. However, Indonesia took over two years later and was formally given control in a UN-supervised vote in 1969.
The UN vote is widely considered illegitimate as only about 1,000 Papuans took part in it. A pro-independence movement began shortly afterwards, which continues to this day.
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