Gunmen attack plane in Indonesia; journalist dead
TIMIKA, Indonesia — Indonesian police are searching for gunmen who sprayed a small commercial plane with bullets as it landed in the restive province of Papua. One passenger was killed.
Maj. Gen. Saud Usman Nasution says the attack occurred Sunday in the hilly district of Puncak Jaya, a stronghold of separatists who have battled Indonesian rule in the impoverished region for more than 30 years.
He said Monday that the twin otter Trigana Air plane was carrying eight people.
One of the passengers, 35-year-old local journalist Leiron Kogoya, was hit in the neck by a bullet and died.
Four others were wounded, including the pilot and the co-pilot.
Papua is on the western half of the island of New Guinea and was handed over to Indonesia by the Dutch in the 1960s.
