Indonesian Brigadier General Killed in 2-week Papua Clash

JAYAPURA, INDONESIA - An Indonesian brigadier general was killed in an ongoing clash between security forces and a rebel group in restive Papua province, authorities said Monday.

The clashes started April 8 in Indonesia's easternmost Papua province after rebels set fire to three schools and shot to death a teacher in Beoga village in Puncak district. Another teacher was also killed a day later as rebels fired at teachers' housing complex and burned down a house of a tribal chief in Beoga. Police, military and intelligence forces joined Operation Nemangkawi to find the attackers, who authorities believe belong to the West Papua Liberation Army, the military wing of the Free Papua Organization. Rebels have been fighting a low-level insurgency since the early 1960s, when Indonesia annexed Papua, a former Dutch colony. Papua was formally incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a U.N.-sponsored ballot that was seen as a sham by many.