TIMIKA, CENTRAL PAPUA, INDONESIA – DECEMBER 16, 2009 Kelly Kwalik, 48, was one of the best-known commanders of the armed Papuan separatist movement TPNPB (West Papua National Liberation Army), which fights for the independence of West Papua from Indonesia. He became best known for his role in the 1996 Mapenduma hostage crisis, during which his group kidnapped members of a foreign scientific expedition. The crisis lasted several months and ended with a military operation by Indonesian special forces. During the conflict, two Indonesian hostages were killed, along with eight members of the armed group and five security personnel in a helicopter crash.
Kelly Kwalik
Kelly Kwalik was killed during a security operation carried out by the Indonesian police, involving members of the elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) and the Densus 88 counterterrorism unit. According to the authorities, he was fatally shot during an operation targeting armed separatists. Indonesian authorities described his death as a significant success in the fight against armed groups operating in the region.
West Papua is the easternmost part of Indonesia, located on the island of New Guinea. Since the 1960s, an independence movement has been active there, with TPNPB serving as its armed wing. The conflict between the separatists and Indonesian security forces has lasted for decades and has regularly claimed lives on both sides, as well as among civilians. The Indonesian government designates TPNPB as a terrorist organization, while its supporters regard it as a liberation movement fighting for the Papuan people’s right to self-determination.
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