Gunmen attacked a helicopter in Indonesia's Papua region, killing New Zealand pilot Glen Malcolm Conning. The incident occurred in a remote village in Mimika district of Central Papua province. The gunmen, allegedly from the West Papua Liberation Army, released two health workers and two children on board before setting the plane on fire. The Indigenous Papuan passengers were unharmed as they were local residents of the village.
The West Papua Liberation Army spokesperson stated that the pilot's entry into their restricted zone was his own fault, as they had warned multiple times against civilian aircraft landing in the area. The group called for a halt to development in Papua until negotiations with the rebels take place.
Conflicts between Indigenous Papuans and Indonesian security forces are common in the region, which has seen a spike in violence over the past year. This incident marks the latest in a series of attacks against New Zealand nationals in Papua.
In a separate incident in February 2023, a pilot working for an Indonesian aviation company was abducted by the Free Papua Movement. The group demanded the release of the pilot in exchange for Papua's sovereignty. In 2020, a New Zealand miner was killed in an attack by gunmen in a mining town in Papua.
Papua, a former Dutch colony incorporated into Indonesia in 1969, has been plagued by a low-level insurgency. The mountainous terrain of the region makes flying the only practical means of accessing many areas in the easternmost provinces of Papua and West Papua.
