&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Papua separatists claim to have shot dead US pilot accused of transporting Indonesian troops")
A separatist group in Indonesia's Papua region has claimed responsibility for killing an American pilot and setting fire to an aircraft it alleged was transporting Indonesian troops into what it described as a conflict zone.
In a statement issued on Thursday (July 2), Sebby Sambom, spokesperson for the West Papua Liberation Army (TPNPB), said the group's fighters in Yahukimo regency shot dead American pilot Nicholas F. Goselin and burned an aircraft operated by Indonesian airline PT AMA in Balinggama village. The Indonesian military did not immediately comment on the claim. The US Embassy also did not issue an immediate response.
Indonesia's Transportation Ministry said the aircraft was carrying one pilot and seven passengers. According to the ministry's Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the pilot reported that the aircraft had landed before communication with personnel at the airstrip was subsequently lost.
Papua police's Cartenz Peace Task Force said authorities were working to verify the condition of the pilot and the seven passengers. A response team is expected to be deployed to the area on Friday.
Yusuf Sutejo, spokesperson for the task force, said rescue and verification efforts were being hampered by the region's rugged terrain. The mountainous location has no road access, leaving aircraft as the only means of reaching the site, while operations remain heavily dependent on weather conditions.
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Sambom said the aircraft was targeted because it had allegedly violated a TPNPB ultimatum banning civilian flights from entering areas the separatist group considers its operational zones.
He further alleged that civilian aircraft have been used to transport Indonesian military personnel and logistics into Papua's remote interior, adding that the pilot was killed because the aircraft continued operating despite the group's warning.
There was no immediate information on the condition or identities of the seven Indonesian passengers. The separatist group's claims have not been independently verified.
