US pilot ‘killed’, plane set on fire in Papua; rebels say attack a ‘message’ to US and Indonesia
Papua separatist rebels on Thursday claimed to have killed a US pilot and set fire to a civilian plane after it landed in Indonesia’s easternmost Papua region, saying the plane was transporting Indonesian military personnel to the conflict zone. A spokesman for the armed separatist group said the attack was a “message” to the U.S. and Indonesian governments.Indonesian authorities confirmed the plane was found burned but said they could not immediately verify the rebels’ claims or confirm the pilot’s death, Reuters reported.The incident occurred in the Papua Highlands Yahukimo regency, where a decades-long low-level separatist insurgency has intensified in recent years as attacks by armed insurgents have become increasingly frequent and deadly.Sebby Sambom, spokesman for the armed separatist group West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), said fighters from the armed separatist group shot dead American pilot Nicholas F. Gosselin after his plane landed in the Balingama district.He said the plane “regularly dropped Indonesian military personnel in violation of the TPNPB’s ultimatum,” according to the Associated Press.Sanbom said the plane was targeted because it allegedly violated the TPNPB’s ban on civilian flights to areas controlled by the group. He also claimed that the pilot was killed because the plane continued to operate despite repeated warnings. These claims cannot be independently verified.Sanbom described the attack as a “message” to the Indonesian and US governments over “the failure to address the root causes of the conflict in Papua between the Indonesian military and the West Papua National Liberation Army”.He further warned that the rebels would continue to target aircraft if Indonesia allowed civilian aircraft into what the group considers to be rebel-controlled “red zones” in Papua.Reuters reported that a video released by the separatist group showed armed rebels armed with guns and axes while raising the “Morning Star” flag, a symbol of Papua’s independence, as they announced the attack.Indonesia’s Joint Police and Military Task Force confirmed that a plane carrying a US pilot and seven Papuan passengers was found burned at the local airport in Yahukimo.However, Yusuf Sutheho, spokesman for Joint Security Operations, said authorities could not immediately confirm whether the plane had been attacked by separatists or whether the pilot had been killed.Indonesia’s Transport Ministry said on Thursday that the plane was carrying a pilot and seven passengers from Wamena to Yahukimo but lost contact shortly after landing. The plane belonged to PT AMA, an airline that delivers food, fuel and mail to remote villages in Papua.Neither PT AMA nor the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta immediately responded to requests for comment, Reuters reported.The latest incident comes more than a year after Papuan rebels abducted New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens after his plane landed in the remote Nduga region. He was released in 2024 after several months in captivity.Sanbom also called on Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to start international negotiations on the conflict in Papua and urged the United Nations to facilitate negotiations between representatives of Jakarta, the TPNPB and Papua, while reiterating the group’s warning that aircraft it believed supported military operations could still be targeted.
