6 killed in violence in Papua, Indonesia

Six people were killed and some others were injured after the crackdown on the third Papua congress on Wednesday, Indonesian Human Rights Commission said here on Friday. During the unrest Indonesian armed forces fired a warning shot into the air when the Papua leader declared their independence. The congress also raised the separatist Free Papua Movement flag of Morning Star. "Six bodies have just been found, they were killed by stabs. They all have been identified as civilians," Ridha Saleh member of the commission said at the commission office. The number of victims could rise as some others participants of the congress were still unfounded, said Saleh. "We still do not know yet the real number of the victims, but the fatality of the violence could increase as many of the participant of the congress are still unknown about their condition," he said. Papua in easternmost of Indonesia has been long homed by the low-level armed separatist Free Papua Movement, which has often engaged on attacks on civilians, Indonesian armed forces and mining firm of PT Freeport Indonesia, killing tens of people and wounding dozen others. The congress had occurred for three days peacefully, but at the end of it on Wednesday, the leaders at the meeting suddenly declared their independence from Indonesia, which triggered the armed forces issued warning shoots. Nevertheless, the commission urged the authorities to put a priority of peaceful solution to settle the problem, said Saleh. "We urged the armed forces to stop violence in Papua, we asked the government to pursue a dialogue,"he said. The Indonesian government has allocated more budget for Papua in order to be able to decrease development gap with other areas in the country. The separatist movement has regularly conducted movement every year, including raising their controversial flag, low level diplomacy at the international fora and launching the strikes.