no less than 24 construction employees have been killed via gunmen in Indonesia’s jap province of Papua, officials said.
A soldier was also shot useless whilst a team of police and safety forces have been sent to analyze Sunday’s killings, authorities added.
The staff had been development a road and bridges in the remote and mountainous Nduga area.
Police have blamed the deaths on separatist fighters.
Insurgents calling for independence had been active in Papua for many years.
The Indonesian government heavily restricts access to the region through international journalists, bringing up safety considerations, so independent information is scarce.
Construction paintings within the dense jungle is a component of President Joko Widodo’s infrastructure push, an attempt he says to convey building and prosperity to the resource-wealthy area.
Then Again, Papuan chief Timotius Murib not too long ago instructed the BBC: “we do not need development, as a result of with development we lose keep an eye on of our land.”
Symbol copyright Getty Photographs Image caption Security forces sent to the area additionally got here below fireplace
Paintings on the road has been postponed until the world is safe, Indonesian Public Works Minister Basuki Hadimuljono told reporters.
Papua is house to one of the world’s greatest gold and copper mines, operated by US firm Freeport-McMoran, nevertheless it is still the poorest province in Indonesia.
Papua shares the island of recent Guinea with the independent u . s . Papua New Guinea.