Indonesian separatists claim to have shot dead a US pilot who transported troops

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A Papua separatist group said Thursday it has shot dead an American pilot who brought Indonesian troops into a ‘conflict zone.'

In a statement issued Thursday, Sebby Sambom, spokesman for the West Papua Liberation Army, or TPNPB, claimed the group’s fighters in Yahukimo regency shot dead American pilot Nicholas F. Goselin and set fire to an aircraft operated by PT AMA, an Indonesian airline, in Balinggama village.

Sambom said the aircraft was targeted because it allegedly violated a TPNPB ultimatum banning civilian flights from entering areas the separatist group considers its operational zones. There was no immediate information on the Indonesians.