Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s Papua region shot dead an American pilot and set his aircraft on fire, the West Papua National Liberation Army said.
The group said its fighters killed pilot Nicholas F. Gosling on Thursday after his aircraft landed in Highland Papua province, BBC reported.
The separatists claimed civilian pilots were transporting Indonesian soldiers in the region and that Gosling’s killing was a message against that activity. Indonesian officials confirmed the aircraft was found burned but said the exact fate of the pilot and seven passengers on board remains unclear.
Indonesia’s civil aviation authority said the aircraft carrying the American pilot and seven passengers was found burned at an airfield in the Yahukimo area. The directorate general said the pilot was dead, based on a preliminary report from the airport where the flight originated, but is awaiting a full investigation to confirm the cause.
The conflict between the Indonesian government and indigenous groups over the resource-rich region’s independence has continued for decades since Papua’s incorporation into Indonesia in 1969, resulting in widespread civilian deaths and displacement.
In 2024, a New Zealand pilot was freed after 19 months in captivity by the same group following lengthy negotiations. One month before his release, the group’s gunmen had shot and killed another New Zealand helicopter pilot, Glen Malcolm Conning, shortly after he landed.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report