Reuters
Indonesia’s military and national police chiefs visited the rebellious Papua region Friday, in a rare joint trip to discuss security there with field commanders after insurgents dealt government forces setbacks, including assassinating an army general last month.
Air Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, head of the armed forces (TNI), and Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo, the chief of police, arrived together on Thursday night as a firefight with the separatist rebels flared up in Papua’s Ilaga district. Ilaga is in Puncak, a regency where insurgents have mounted deadly attacks lately.
On Friday, the chiefs met in nearby Mimika regency with leaders and members of a joint military-police counter-insurgency task force, before the two were scheduled to return to Jakarta in the late afternoon, officials said.