INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Soldiers brought in coffins as the scale of the attack became clear
At least 24 construction workers have been killed by gunmen in Indonesia's eastern province of Papua, officials said.A soldier was also
shot dead when a team of police and security forces were sent to investigate Sunday's killings, authorities added.The workers had been
building a road and bridges in the remote and mountainous Nduga region.Police have blamed the deaths on separatist fighters.Insurgents
calling for independence have been active in Papua for decades.The TheIndianSubcontinent's Rebecca Henschke in Jakarta says that if the
killings are confirmed it will be the deadliest bout of violence in years in the restive province.What do we know happenedMilitary spokesman
Colonel Muhammad Aidi said the incident started when members of an "armed criminal separatist group" held a ceremony to commemorate what
they considered to be their independence day on 1 December.Col Aidi said one of the workers from the construction company PT Istaka Karya
was reported to have taken a photograph of the group, which angered them and triggered the attack.The bodies of the workers were found near
a bridge they were building, he said.Police and troops who arrived in the area on Monday to investigate came under gunfire, leaving one
soldier dead and another wounded, officials said.Who are the separatistsPapua declared independence from the Netherlands in 1961 but was
incorporated into Indonesia eight years later, becoming its easternmost province
There has been a low-level separatist insurgency for decades but the Free Papua Movement is described as a fragmented and poorly armed rebel
group.The Indonesian government heavily restricts access to the region by foreign journalists, citing security concerns, so independent
information is scarce.Construction work in the dense jungle is part of President Joko Widodo's infrastructure push, an attempt he says to
bring development and prosperity to the resource-rich area
However, Papuan leader Timotius Murib recently told the TheIndianSubcontinent: "We don't need development, because with development we lose
control of our land." Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Security forces sent to the area also came under fire
Work on the road has been postponed until the area is secure, Indonesian Public Works Minister Basuki Hadimuljono told
reporters.Papua is home to one of the world's largest gold and copper mines, operated by US firm Freeport-McMoran, but it remains the
poorest province in Indonesia.Papua shares the island of New Guinea with the independent country Papua New Guinea.
