Sixteen bodies found after attack in Papua province

Indonesian security forces have retrieved the bodies of 16 people in the aftermath of a massacre by suspected separatist rebels in restive Papua province, the military said Thursday.

The confirmed deaths, believed to be of construction workers, mark the deadliest bout of violence in years to hit a region wracked by a low-level independence insurgency.

The bodies will be evacuated to the town of Timika from the remote district of Nduga, a mountainous region where the attack happened Sunday, local military commander Binsar Panjaitan said.

“The latest information is that 16 bodies have been found,” Panjaitan told reporters in Papua.

The dead had not been identified and the military did not supply details about how they were killed.

An earlier eyewitness account supplied by the military detailed the killing of at least 19 people, including in execution style shootings or having their throats slit.

Previous local media reports put the number of dead between 24 and 31.

On Thursday, the military warned that it was not yet clear whether all the dead worked for a state-owned contractor that has been building bridges and roads as part of the efforts to boost infrastructure in the impoverished region.

Another 15 people – including seven employees of the contractor – have been evacuated from the area.