Indonesian pilot killed in separatist attack
Indonesian security forces recovered the body of an American pilot who was killed after armed separatists attacked and burned a small aircraft in the restive Papua region, reports BritPanorama.
Nicholas F. Goselin, a pilot for Indonesian aviation company PT AMA, was shot dead Thursday shortly after he landed at the Ipdeheik airstrip in Balinggama village of the Yahukimo regency in the mountainous province of Papua Highlands.
The evacuation, involving 10 personnel from the Habema Operations Command, was executed after troops secured the remote airstrip in a rapid operation, said Brig. Gen. Riyanto, deputy commander of the operation.
Rebels armed with guns and axes raised the Morning Star flag, a symbol of Papuan independence, claiming responsibility for the attack in a video distributed to the media by the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement.
A decades-old insurgency in impoverished Papua between Indigenous Papuans and Indonesian security forces has escalated in the past year, resulting in numerous casualties among rebels, security forces, and civilians. The insurgents have increasingly targeted foreign pilots.
Contact was lost with the airstrip shortly after Goselin reported the plane landing, which carried one pilot and seven passengers, as stated by Indonesia’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy regarding the incident.
Rebel spokesman Sebby Sambom stated that the aircraft violated their ban on civilian flights in operational zones. He alleged that civilian aircraft have been used to transport Indonesian military personnel and logistics into Papua’s remote interior. He claimed that Goselin was killed due to the aircraft’s continued operations despite group warnings; these claims could not be independently verified.
The Indonesian military refuted allegations that the plane was used to carry troops, stating that those on board were seven indigenous Papuan civilians, including three women, who were unharmed.
Sambom called upon Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to initiate international negotiations aimed at resolving the long-standing conflict in Papua, citing significant civilian casualties and mass displacement.
“The shooting of the American pilot is the result of the failure of the Indonesian, U.S. and Dutch governments, as well as the United Nations, to address the root causes of the conflict in Papua, which has persisted for 64 years,” he said in a statement.
His statement called for UN involvement to facilitate discussions involving the Indonesian government, the TPNPB, and Papuan representatives, warning that the group would target other civilian aircraft perceived as aiding military operations in the region.
In February 2023, Egianus Kogoya, a regional commander in the Free Papua Movement, abducted Philip Mark Mehrtens, a pilot from Christchurch, New Zealand, who was employed by Indonesian aviation company Susi Air. He was released in September 2024.
In August 2024, TPNPB gunmen stormed a helicopter, killing its New Zealand pilot, Glen Malcolm Conning, who worked for PT Intan Angkasa Air Service shortly after landing in a remote village carrying several indigenous Papuans who were released.
Papua, a former Dutch colony, was integrated into Indonesia in 1969 through a United Nations-sponsored ballot that is widely regarded as a sham, triggering the ongoing conflict.
