The West Papua National Liberation Army (Indonesian: Tentara Pembebasan Nasional Papua Barat; abbreviated as TPNPB), officially referred to in Indonesia as the Armed Criminal Group (Indonesian: Kelompok Kriminal Bersenjata,[1] abbreviated as KKB), and after 2021, Separatist Terrorist Group (Indonesian: Kelompok Separatis Teroris, abbreviated as KST[2]), is a Western New Guineaninsurgent group in Indonesia. It is the armed wing of the Free Papua Organization.[3]
The TPNPB employs guerilla tactics to attack and destroy industrial buildings as a rejection of Indonesian-led development. In the attacks, they use machetes, bows and arrows, axes, and limited numbers of revolvers and rifles.
On 1 December 2018, the TPNPB shot at construction workers, which the TPNPB believed them as military personnel disguised in civilian attire in the Nduga Regency, Papua (now in Highland Papua), Indonesia.[7] The TPNPB declared responsibility for the attack, in which at least twenty-four Indonesian construction workers were killed and which the Indonesian government labeled "the Nduga massacre."(Indonesian: Pembantaian Nduga) [8]
On 16 July 2022, a group of around twenty TPNPB gunmen entered the Kampung Nonggolait (or Nogolait) in Nduga Regency, Highland Papua, Indonesia. The attackers opened fire on a grocer, and then shot seven other traders who were riding on a freight truck. Four bystanders were also shot.[9] On many occasions, rebel spokesman Sebby Sambom has said the group’s fighters had warned civilians to leave areas the rebels consider a “war zone.” He also urged workers to leave all Indonesian government projects, or they would be considered part of the security forces. Indonesian authorities stated that the Free Papua Movement's military wing was responsible for the shooting, and specifically the Tabuni and Egianus Kogoya group.[9][10][11]
From 7 January until 12 January 2023, the TPNPB periodically attacked Oksibil, the seat of the Bintang Mountains Regency, in Highland Papua. According to the Regional Police of Papua, Bintang Mountains is one of seven regencies that are vulnerable to separatist attacks.[12]
In February 2023, the TPNPB captured pilot Philip Mehrtens, who was employed by the Indonesian private charter airline company Susi Air and had landed his plane at the Paro Airport in the remote highlands of the Nduga regency of West Papua. Military authorities stated they had begun a search for the pilot and identified his approximate location when they were ambushed by the West Papua Liberation Army. At least six soldiers died, and twenty-one others fled into the jungle, according to military reports seen by journalists. The TPNB claimed they killed thirteen Indonesian soldiers.[13][14] The military authorities stated that one Indonesian soldier was killed, from a fall "into a deep ravine." In April 2023, the TPNPB issued a call to the New Zealand government for a negotiation about the pilot's release. They stated that New Zealand and the United Nations have an “obligation to urge the Indonesian Government to stop military operations” against them.[15][14]
Indonesia