Residents lined up to vote at Timika Jaya Village, Mimika, Papua on April 17 (Photo: ANTARA)Hanoi (VNA) – Armed criminalgroups attacked Indonesian election organisers and security forces in Alamadistrict, Papua province, on April 18.
It is unclear if the attack resulted in anycasualties.
According to Lieutenant Colonel PioNainggolan, the gunshot took place in early morning and was allegedly directedat personnel tasked with securing the election in the district. The localsecurity force fired back, while two army helicopters were used to evacuate theattacked groups.
A total of 28 election organisers, policeofficers and logistic staff were transferred to a safe location, he said.
The evacuation was carried outsimultaneously with work to protect the C1 Plano document, which contains the district’sresults. The document is now kept by Mimika Regional Police for submission tothe Indonesia's election commission (KPU). Other documents were still trappedin Alama.
Indonesia opened the polls to more than 192million eligible voters on April 17 in one of the world's biggest single-dayelections. For the first time, the country held its presidential andlegislative elections on the same day, with more than 245,000 candidatesrunning for more than 20,000 seats.
Initial results showed that IncumbentIndonesian President Joko Widodo is leading the April 17 presidential electionby 10 percent over his rival Prabowo Subianto. - VNA
VNA
