Sixteen construction workers that were held hostage by an armed separatist group have successfully been evacuated by Indonesian police and military.

Footage from February 8 shows the moment the workers were evacuated onto helicopters in Paro, Nduga regency.

The armed separatists that call themselves the West Papua National Liberation Army also took a New Zealand pilot named Philip Merthens hostage along with five passengers including a baby.

In a statement, the group's spokesperson Eganus Kogeya demanded that all incoming flights to Paro Airport be stopped and said the pilot would not be released until the Indonesian government acknowledged Papuan independence.

Indonesian police and Army Special Forces managed to evacuate sixteen building construction workers in a village in Indonesia held hostage by armed separatist groups, precisely in Paro District, Nduga regency, Papua province, Wednesday (8/2/2023).

Dozens of building construction workers were previously working on the construction of a Puskemas unit in Paro District. They managed to escape from the hostage.

The evacuation process was led by Nduga Police Chief, Assistant Commissioner of police Rio Aleksander Penelewan with seven police and TNI personnel. They used a helicopter unit owned by the police.

The evacuation process of dozens of building construction workers was running smoothly. All workers directly under to Keneyam, the capital of Nduga district. They are reported to be safe.
In addition to holding dozens of construction workers hostage. Armed separatists who often claim to be the West Papua National Liberation Army, the military wing of the Free Papua organization, led by Egianus Kogoya, also took hostage a pioneering airline Pilot named Philip Mark Mehrtens, and five passengers including a baby.

The hostage-taking occurred when the Susi Air Pilatus Porter aircraft with flight number SI 9368 and registration number PK-BVY landed at Paro pioneer Airport, Paro District, Wednesday (8/2/2023).

Armed separatists attacked the pilot and passengers. They also burned the plane.
Susi Air Pilatus Porter PC 6 / PK-BVY lost contact on Tuesday (7/2) at 6.35 pm at Paro District airfield while flying the Timika-Paro-Timika route.

Indonesian security authorities are searching for the New Zealand Pilot and five passengers, including a baby.

In Papua conflicts between rebel forces and Indonesian security forces are frequent.

The region became one of Indonesia's provinces after the 1969 vote. However, some of the parties considered the vote to be fake. Since then, there have been frequent uprisings in Papua and West Papua.