West Papua Claims Responsibility for Death of Two Indonesian Soldiers

Hundreds of demonstrators marched near Papua's biggest city of Jayapura on August 29, 2019, where they set fire to a regional assembly building and hurled rocks at shops and hotels. Cleine/AFP via Getty Images

The West Papua Liberation Army has claimed responsibility for the death of two Indonesian soldiers amid increasing tensions between Indonesia and Papuan separatists.

This comes just weeks after the Indonesian government designated Papuan independence fighters and members of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) as “terrorists,” following the killing of the province’s intelligence chief by rebel groups in late April.