Papua Rebels Kill New Zealand Helicopter Pilot

Separatists in the West Papua Liberation Army shot and killed a pilot for Indonesian aviation company PT Intan Angkasa Air Service after he had dropped off four passengers at the remote village of Alama. The passengers were not harmed because they were indigenous people from the village. Glen Malcolm Conning, a New Zealander, has been identified as the dead pilot by Faizal Ramadhani, a national police member and head of the joint security peace force in Papua. The helicopter was set on fire after Conning was killed. The killing comes as an escalation of the decades-long separatist movement in the resource-rich province, which is ruled by Indonesia.

The murder of the pilot also came almost 18 months after the abduction of another New Zealand pilot, Phillip Merhtens. His future looks a little brighter after rebels issued a statement last Saturday saying he was going to be released. So far he has not surfaced and is presumed to still be in captivity. He was taken after landing a Pilatus Porter at a remote village in February of 2023. The rebels also set that aircraft on fire.