ALBAWABA- Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Highland Papua province claimed responsibility on Thursday for killing an American pilot and setting his civilian aircraft ablaze after it landed in the remote Yahukimo region, in the latest escalation of the decades-long insurgency in Papua.
The armed wing of the West Papua independence movement, the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), said its fighters shot American pilot Nicholas F. Gosselin after his aircraft landed near Balinggama village before setting the plane on fire.
The aircraft, operated by Indonesian airline PT AMA, was carrying the pilot and seven Papuan passengers. Indonesian authorities confirmed that a burned aircraft was found at a local airstrip in Yahukimo but said they were still investigating the incident and had not independently verified the pilot's death or the circumstances surrounding the attack.
TPNPB spokesperson Sebby Sambom said the attack was intended as a "message" to both the Indonesian and U.S. governments. The group alleged that the aircraft had been used to transport Indonesian military personnel into a conflict area and claimed it had ignored previous warnings. The rebels also said they raised the Morning Star flag, a symbol of Papuan independence, during the attack.
There were no immediate reports of casualties among the seven Papuan passengers aboard the aircraft. The incident is the latest in the long-running separatist conflict in Indonesia's easternmost Papua region, where armed groups seeking independence have waged a low-level insurgency against Indonesian security forces for decades.
