Jayapura – Information is circulating about residents fleeing using Hercules planes from Yahukimo Regency, Papua Mountains, to several areas in Papua, including Jayapura. This information is confirmed to be incorrect or a hoax.
The Papua Regional Police denied that hundreds of residents of Yahukimo Regency, Papua Mountains, had fled after the terror act in the area. Hundreds of residents who flew on the Indonesian Air Force’s Hercules aircraft were said to be hitchhiking because there were no flights. On the other hand, residents’ activities have not recovered due to paralysis of air transportation, to the stop of learning activities.
Previously, Benny explained, as many as 261 residents departed from Nop Goliat Airport, Yahukimo to Jayapura on Thursday (16/3/2023) afternoon. Hundreds of these residents boarded the Indonesian Air Force’s Hercules aircraft because there were no commercial flights.
“So not all of the residents who flew to Jayapura were out of fear, but many also had planned to go to Jayapura because there was a need. Because there were no commercial planes going to Yahukimo anymore, that’s why they boarded the Hercules plane,” said Kombes Benny, Saturday ( 18/3/2023).
Benny explained, after the shooting down of the Trigana Air plane by KKB on Saturday (11/3/2023), two airlines that had been serving flights to and from Dekai temporarily suspended flight activities.
“Apart from Trigana Air which temporarily did not fly to Dekai, other airlines, namely Wing Air, also stopped their flights, as a result passengers piled up at Noop Goliat Airport and when a Hercules plane arrived they used it to fly to Jayapura,” explained Benny.
Kombes Benny also said that until now the situation in Yahukimo Regency had started to be conducive. The Papua Regional Police have added personnel to support the Yahukimo Police in restoring security and order after a number of incidents. A total of 40 Brimob personnel and 20 TNI personnel have arrived in Yahukimo from Jayapura and Timika to increase their strength.
Previously it was reported, in the last two weeks the KKB in Yahukimo often carried out acts of security disturbance.
Data from the Papua Regional Police on March 1, 2023, the KKB shot 5 members of the TNI, one of which was the 1715/Yahukimo Kodim Commander (Dandim), Lt. Col. Inf JV Tethool. In addition to injuring the Dandim and 3 TNI soldiers, one TNI soldier on behalf of Pratu Lukas Worambai was reported to have died.
A week later on Wednesday March 8 the KKB again killed two civilians. The two victims were Emon Kabak, who was a student and Viktor Hadi Sampa.