Jayapura, Jubi — The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) claims to have executed four people in Dekai, the capital of Yahukimo Regency, Highland Papua, on Monday (12 October 2026). The group claimed the four were members of the Indonesian military and police, as well as agents of Indonesian military intelligence.
However, the Damai Cartenz-2026 Police Task Force said the victims were civilians and that there were only two victims, not four as claimed by the TPNPB.
TPNPB spokesperson Sebby Sambom said the group’s National Command Headquarters (KOMNAS TPNPB) had received a report from Major Yabane Sonyap, commander of the TPNPB’s Yallenang Battalion, on Wednesday, 14 October 2026.
According to the report, TPNPB members had stabbed and shot four Indonesian security personnel, including military intelligence agents.
Sambom said the attack was retaliation for the death of Tirinus Keroman, a member of the TPNPB’s Yallenang Battalion. He said the TPNPB’s Regional Defence Command (Kodap) XVI was responsible for a series of attacks against Indonesian government security personnel and military intelligence agents in Yahukimo Regency.
Sambom said the TPNPB in Yahukimo had issued a warning to Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and his administration to immediately evacuate all Indonesian migrants living in Yahukimo Regency.
“If this warning is ignored, then during TPNPB operations, anyone identified as an Indonesian migrant will be shot dead and executed on the spot,” Sambom said in an electronic message on Wednesday (14 October 2026).
“Whether they are meatball sellers, drivers or civil servants, including teachers and healthcare workers, we once again urge Indonesian migrants to leave the conflict zone immediately and return to their hometowns outside the Land of Papua, for their own security and safety,” he said.
Sambom claimed the TPNPB had formally complied with international humanitarian law and had issued an appeal before the incident urging civilians to leave the conflict zone.
Meanwhile, Damai Cartenz-2026 Police Task Force public relations chief Senior Commissioner Yusuf Sutejo said neither incident had resulted in casualties among military or police personnel. The victims, he said, were two civilians.
“As for military casualties, please confirm that with the military. Fortunately, there were no police casualties,” he said in a text message on Thursday (15 October 2026).
Earlier, Sutejo said the Damai Cartenz-2026 Police Task Force and Yahukimo Police were investigating two violent incidents in Dekai District, Yahukimo Regency, on 11 and 12 October 2026.
The incidents resulted in the death of a 46-year-old civilian identified only as A, while a 51-year-old civil servant identified by the initials ET sustained serious injuries.
Sutejo said the first incident occurred at the Block B shop-house complex in Dekai at about 6.15 pm Papua time on Sunday (11 October 2026). The second involved a serious assault on ET at the Eselon IV residential area, Lane 3, in Dekai on Monday morning (12 October 2026).
“Information claiming that the victim identified by the initials A was an intelligence agent is false. The victim was a civilian earning a living to support his family,” Sutejo said in a press statement on Monday (12 October 2026).
The public has been urged not to believe or spread unverified information, in order to help maintain security and public order. (*)
