At least 27 people have died after fresh unrest broke out in Indonesia’s restive Papua region on Monday, with some victims burned alive as protesters set fire to buildings during violent demonstrations.
The authorities warned that the death toll may rise in Wamena city, which saw the bulk of the casualties after hundreds took to the streets and demonstrators burned down a government office and other buildings.
“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.
A soldier was stabbed to death and three civilians also died from rubber bullet wounds in further clashes in Jayapura, the provincial capital.
The protests, which mainly involved high school students, were reportedly sparked by racist comments made by a teacher, but police have refuted this version of events as a “hoax.”
Papua and West Papua provinces, the resource-rich western part of the island of New Guinea, were formerly a Dutch colony that was incorporated into Indonesia after a widely criticised U.N.-backed referendum in 1969.
The region was gripped by violence in August, fuelled by renewed calls for self-rule and by anger over reports of racist slurs and tear gas used against Papuan students in the Indonesian city of Surabaya.
The students had been accused of desecrating the national flag. Their dormitory was surrounded by a baying mob and 43 students were arrested and later released without charge.
Many have since returned to Papua in fear, while others have spoken of intimidation, including an incident where a bag of snakes was thrown into their living quarters.
The United Liberation Movement for West Papua, which is pushing for independence, described Monday’s violence as a “massacre” and said that 17 Papuan high school students had been gunned down by Indonesian security forces. The claims of both sides could not be independently verified.
Meanwhile, thousands of residents, including young families, are said to have sought shelter in military, police and government buildings.