SUGAPA — The Mbamogo area, Bilogai Parish, Intan Jaya Regency was tense after an aerial bomb attack using a number of drone units and the firing of Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG) hit the local Catholic Church area.
The incident occurred exactly when the congregation was moving out of the house of worship and was in the church yard on Sunday afternoon, May 17, 2026, at around 12.15 WIT.
The powerful explosion originating from military weaponry was reported to directly target civilian residential areas and religious facilities, not a defense headquarters or an armed resistance base.
As a result of this sudden attack, more than five unarmed civilians were reported to be victims of injuries and medical emergencies. Some of them have been identified as Pit Pogau, Robert Nabelau, Pius Pogau, and Piter Nabelau, while a number of other victims are still in the process of identification because the situation on the ground is not yet fully conducive.
Seeing this critical situation, Pastor Yanuarius Yance Wadogaudi Yogi, Pr, as the Priest Dean of the Moni-Puncak Deanery in the Timika Diocese who is serving in the Intan Jaya conflict area, moved quickly with the congregation and the local community.
Pastor Yance Yogi evacuated two injured victims to the Intan Jaya Regional General Hospital (RSUD) to receive medical assistance.
Meanwhile, more than three other civilian victims were reported to have not been successfully evacuated due to the unstable escalation of the security situation.
This condition forced the entire community in the Mbamogo area to scatter to save themselves, evacuate to the forest area, and move toward the center of Sugapa City to seek protection.
According to field reports, the military escalation in the Intan Jaya area had actually increased significantly from May 12 to 16, 2026. This was marked by a large-scale mobilization of Indonesian military personnel using at least six military helicopter units, which were then distributed to various strategic posts.
The offensive movement that continued into ground and air operations on this Sunday became the main cause of casualties among the civilian population who were not involved at all in the vortex of the armed conflict between the military and TPNPB.
Responding to this incident, the Spokesperson of TPNPB, Sebby Sambom, in a press release from the Central Headquarters of KOMNAS TPNPB issued a strong statement demanding full responsibility from the Indonesian government ranks for the civilian casualties and damage to religious facilities.
"We emphasize, President Prabowo Subianto and Minister of Defense Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin along with the Commander of the TNI Agus Subyanto and their staff must immediately be responsible for the attack which resulted in the many casualties in Intan Jaya due to bomb attacks through the air and the firing of RPGs," said Sebby Sambom.
Furthermore, TPNPB explicitly strongly condemned the air and ground artillery attacks and categorized them as a form of severe Human Rights (HAM) violation that clearly targeted the holy church building and densely populated residential areas.
"Explicitly we condemn the attack and this is a Severe Human Rights violation committed by the state of Indonesia against the Church building and civilian settlements which also resulted in the loss of life of civilians who were in the Church yard," added Sebby.
TPNPB also urged serious attention from the international community, especially the International Red Cross, foreign journalists, and various non-governmental organizations working in the humanitarian field to immediately step in to mitigate the humanitarian crisis currently happening in the Land of Papua.
Currently, it is recorded that there are around 107,039 civilians forced to live in displacement in various regions due to the prolonged armed conflict.
TPNPB also urged the President of Indonesia to immediately open the widest possible access for international journalists to enter the conflict zone directly for the sake of creating a balanced, transparent, and accountable flow of information in the eyes of the world. ***