JAKARTA: At least 26 have died in the latest civil unrest in Indonesia’s Papua region, authorities confirmed on Tuesday.
Indonesian authorities have confirmed that at least 26 people have been killed when buildings were set to ablaze by the protestors in Indonesia’s Papua region.
Papua, in the western half of the island of New Guinea, has been swept away by weeks of violent protests fuelled by anger over racial discrimination, as well as new calls for self-rule in the impoverished territory
Some 22 residents were killed in the Wamena City of Indonesia, where hundreds of people demonstrated and burned down public offices and other facilities on Monday.
Some of the victims burnt to death when the protestors set official buildings ablaze. According to the official figures on Monday, the death count crossed 20 whereas, 70 individuals were injured.
According to the military sources around 700 protestors have been detained for questioning in regards to their involvement in the violent riots.
“Some were burned, some were hacked to death… some were trapped in fires,” local military commander Chandra Dianto told AFP.
“(We’re) going to scour the debris to look for more possible victims in shops and stalls that were set on fire,” he added.
The protests on Monday were triggered over alleged racist remarks made by a school teacher, but the authorities rejected that as a “hoax.”
The tribal people of Indonesia are allegedly subjected to racists remarks and discriminatory treatment by the locals. According to an account of one of the tribals, their children in school are bullied by others as they call them, “Monkey”, “Pigs” and “dog.”
The indigenous people of Indonesia are demanding for a separate homeland for themselves.
