DPA

JAKARTA UNIDENTIFIED attackers fired on a small plane as it was landing in Indonesia’s Papua province on Sunday, killing one person and wounding four others, police said.

The Twin Otter plane operated by Trigana Air was carrying eight people when it was attacked at Mulia airport in Puncak Jaya district, said local police chief Alek Korwa.

The attack killed a local journalist travelling on the plane and wounded four other people on board, including the pilot, he said.

Police were searching for the perpetrators, he said.

In Jakarta, top security minister Djoko Suyanto condemned what he called “terror” targeting civilians.

”Acts of terror in Papua must stop,” he was quoted as saying by the state-run Antara news agency.

”Peace and development in Papua must not be sullied by irresponsible acts that victimise the people,” he reportedly said.

A ragtag separatist group, the Free Papua Organisation, has been fighting for independence for the mainly Melanesian region since the 1960s.

Papua, which together with West Papua province makes up nearly half of New Guinea island, is one of Indonesia’s poorest provinces despite its abundant natural resources.