“Our new target are all foreigners: the US, EU, Australians and New Zealanders because they supported Indonesia to kill Papuans for 60 years. Colonialism in Papua must be abolished.”
The separatists have previously attacked and shot dead foreigners working for Freeport Indonesia, which operates the Grasberg mine in Mimika, one of the world’s largest gold and copper deposits.
Even before the kidnapping of the New Zealander, the TPNPB had been involved in a series of deadly attacks this year including the shooting of five military officers who were rebuilding a bridge in Maybrat, one of them was killed. They also set fire to a school in Oksibil, in the newly designated province of Highland Papua where Mehrtens was taken hostage, and shot at a cargo flight at the Oksibil airport as it was descending, forcing the pilot to abandon the landing.
https://www.theage.com.au/world/ocea...08-p5civk.html