JUBI, 17 August 2011

On 17 August, at 1.55 am, there was the sound of gunfire in Pagepota and
Uwibutu, two kampungs that are not far from Madi, the capital of the
district of Paniai. There were no reports of any casualties, however.

From another source in Paniai, it was reported that at 5am, armed
civilian groups believed to be part of the TPN/OPM were using two
locations in the vicinity of Madi as their base from which to attack the
Indonesian army and police based in Madi. This is near the building in
which the DPRD Paniai has its office.

As a result of the fact that the areas are now under the control of
armed civilian groups, people living in Madi are unable to travel
anywhere because it is through these areas that people travel back and
forth from Madi to Enaro and Bibida.

The gunfire stopped for a while but was heard again between 5am and 7am,
then at 9.30am and then later in Enarotali.

Two days earlier, spokesmen for the Synod of the KINGMI Church and the
Catholic Church in Paniai said that they were very worried about the
security situation in Paniai during the past few days. They said that
reports of armed conflict between the TPN/OPM and the security forces
have worried the population and some people have even decided to leave
their homes in search of somewhere safer.

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