2021 Maybrat attack
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| 2021 Maybrat attack | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Papua conflict | |||||||
 Maybrat Regency in Indonesian Papua | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Indonesia |
 West Papua National Liberation Army | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| Manfet Patem faction | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
12 (attack) 100–150 (pursuit) | 30+ | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
4 killed 2 wounded | 14 arrested | ||||||
| 5,200+ civilians internally displaced | |||||||
The 2021 Maybrat attack was conducted by the separatist West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) on 2 September 2021 in Kisor, Maybrat Regency, West Papua province. The attack, which killed four Indonesian Army personnel, was the deadliest TPNPB attack against Indonesian security forces in West Papua Province and marked a significant escalation of the Papua conflict in Maybrat.
Prior to the establishment of Southwest Papua as a separate province in 2023, Maybrat was one of the 13 regencies in the Indonesian province of West Papua. It was one of the only two landlocked regencies and is also the most remote regency in the province, with its closest point to the ocean (the Seram Sea) being 30 kilometres (18.6 miles) from the coast. With an HDI of 60.49, it is also the third-least developed regency in West Papua.[1]
Prior to the 2021 attack, the province of West Papua was a relatively peaceful area within the context of the Papua conflict, with no recorded fatalities from TPNPB/OPM attacks since 2017.[2]
As part of its strategy to root out the TPNPB, the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) had been constructing new military infrastructure in West Papua, including in Maybrat. In March 2021, the Indonesian Army opened a new Kodim (regency-level military base) in Maybrat, while preparing the construction of district-level military posts (Posramil) across the Aifat region of Maybrat, which covers eight out of its 23 districts.[3] Local students have raised their opposition to the construction of new military infrastructure in Maybrat from 2020 to no avail.[4]
Attack
At 3 a.m. on 2 September 2021, more than 30 TPNPB militants under the command of Manfet Patem (or Manfred Vatem), the chairman of the Kisor branch of the National Committee for West Papua, ambushed the posramil in Kisor Village, South Aifat District, Maybrat Regency. Using firearms and blades, they killed four TNI personnel: First Lieutenant Dirman, 2nd Sergeant Amrosius, Chief Private Dirham, and First Private Zul Ansari. Two other TNI personnel were severely wounded and five otherwise survived the engagement.[5]