SAA event in Indonesia on Thu 2nd July 2026

Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s restive easternmost region of Papua have shot dead an American pilot and set a civilian ⁠plane on fire, in what a spokesperson for a local militant group described as a “message” to the US and Indonesian governments. Sebby Sambom, ⁠a spokesperson for the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), named the pilot as Nicholas F Gosselin and said separatist fighters had set his ⁠plane on fire after it landed in the Yahukimo region of Highland Papua province. He claimed the aircraft ​had been “frequently dropping Indonesian military personnel and ‌violating the TPNPB’s ultimatum”. A low-level battle for independence ⁠from Indonesia has ⁠long raged in the ​resource-rich western half of Papua, where attacks by independence fighters have grown deadlier and more frequent as they have procured better weaponry. Yusuf Sutejo, ‌a spokesperson for Indonesia’s joint police-military operations in Papua, confirmed that a plane with an American pilot carrying ‌seven passengers had been found burned at an airport in Yahukimo, but he could not confirm whether it had been attacked by rebels or whether the pilot had been killed. All the passengers were Papuans, he said.