Rebel group ambushes National Security Personnel guarding Church in Indonesia

Two members of Indonesia's national security forces were shot during Sunday worship while guarding the church. 

According to officials, the attack was carried out by the Armed Criminal Group (KKB), identified as a separatist organization. 

The Armed Criminal Group attacked members of the Indonesian National Army (TNI) and the Republic of Indonesia Police (Polri) on Sunday, May 1. They were guarding a Protestant church in Bintang Mountains Regency, Papua, Indonesia's eastern province.

Bintang Mountains Regency is one of Papua Province's regencies. It had a population of 77,872 in the 2021 Census. The distance between the Indonesian city of Jakarta and the Bintang Regency Mountains is 3,729 kilometers.

Cahyo Sukarnito, the head of the Bintang Mountains' local police force, stated that the KKB attacked TNI-Polri personnel protecting the church, reports Antara news agency.

According to Sukarnito, the KKB attack was launched from two directions, resulting in the shooting of two individuals. They were both members of the Cartenz Peace Task Force: Vanny Putra Perdana and Willy John, who were both shot in the arm.

Theo Hesegem, the executive director of the Papuan Human Rights and Integrity Foundation, said that the attack on the church was very unusual because KKB never had before attacked security troops protecting places of worship.

He said there might be a case for security forces to avoid churches in the future to avoid making them a target and harming innocent worshipers.

He further said that despite TNI Commander Andika Perkasa's commitment to taking a more moderate approach in Papua, there were no indicators of a decrease in violence.

In the past, growing violence in Indonesia's Papua province prompted church authorities to call on the military and separatist groups to announce a truce to find a "dignified, humane, open, and respectful solution," Vatican News reported.

These leaders wanted military and separatist leaders to "exercise restraint" and keep a truce to work together to develop a "humane, open and respectful solution."

Christianity was introduced to Papua in 1855 by two German Protestant missionaries—Carl Ottow and Johan Gottlieb Geissler. They landed on Mansinam island, near the city of Manokwari, which serves as the province's current capital.

Papua province has the second-highest proportion of Christians, with Protestants numbering 69.02 percent of the population and Catholics making 15.4 percent. This translates to 3.67 million Christians in Indonesia or 12.8% of Christians. - With inputs by Kasmir Nema