Wenda issues warning to world ahead of impending massacre WEST PAPUAN independence leader Benny Wenda issued an urgent warning to the world today, fearing an imminent slaughter by Indonesian forces. He said that hundreds of soldiers had mobilised in the area, the biggest operation in decades, and that the internet had been cut off as villagers fleed — an ominous sign that atrocities were to be committed. “This looks like it will be the biggest military operation in West Papua since the late 1970s,” Mr Wenda said. “The Jala Mangkara Detachment (Denjaka) — elite troops of the Indonesian navy — are being deployed. “I myself witnessed the consequences of these military operations when I was a child, seeing my village bombed and my family killed. I had to flee and live in the bush for six years. It makes my heart cry that this is about to happen to so many more of my people.” Mr Wenda was elected interim president of a provisional West Papuan government in December last year and has ...
