The Indonesian military says armed separatists shot dead an Indonesian soldier on Monday during a gunfight at a market in Papua province.
Photo: AFP
A military spokesman told the Reuters news agency that five members of the separatist group, armed with pistols and machetes, attacked Indonesian soldiers.
He said the attack took place at the market place in Sinak in Papua's Puncak Jaya regency.
Advocacy groups have urged Jakarta to end human rights violations and improve media access to the area, where militants linked to the Free Papua Movement have been targeting operations at the vast Grasberg copper mine run by American company Freeport McMoRan.
Rights activists have accused Indonesia's security forces of abducting and torturing indigenous Papuans and using deadly force to quell their protests.
