Jakarta, July 22: The latest violence near a gold mine in the Indonesian province of Papua has reportedly led to the death of two policemen and the injury of a soldier.
The casualties were inflicted on Wednesday when a vehicle belonging to local policemen overturned after coming under fire.
At the time of incident police and soldiers were guarding 10 buses carrying mine workers, the online edition of the English-language daily The Jakarta PostM cited an unnamed police officer as saying.
Prior to the attack, police had announced the arrests of 22 people in connection with deadly shootings earlier this month near the mainly US-owned Freeport mine in which three people, including an Australian, were killed.
Provincial police chief Bagus Eko Danto said the detainees were Papuan civilians from various tribes, but he did not say if they were separatists.
“Police are questioning them to determine their possible involvement in the attacks. Police seized ammunition from the suspects,” he said.
The military has held separatist rebels responsible for the attacks; one secessionist leader has told local media that his group has not been involved in the attacks.
Freeport is one of the world’s largest producers of gold and copper and one of Indonesia’s largest corporate taxpayers.
Two American teachers and an Indonesian were killed in 2002 when gunmen opened fire on their car near the Freeport mine. The central government restricts visits by foreign journalists to Papua.
—–Agencies