At least two civilians were feared dead and two others injured after an aerial bombing at a Catholic church compound in the Central Papua province, West Papua.
The Union of Catholic Asian News (UCA News) reported at least two civilians were believed dead and two others injured after the suspected drone attack on Sunday.
The incident occurred in the morning as parishioners were gathered in the courtyard of the St. Paulus Nabuni Catholic Church in Mbamogo village in the Intan Jaya Regency.
According to Father Yanuarius Yance Yogi, who is the parish priest at Bilogai, they had just finished Mass when an object (believed to be a grenade) fell from the sky and exploded.
Four people received serious injuries. First aid was administered at the church and the injured were taken to hospital.
The Australian West Papua Association (Sydney) said on Tuesday reports circulating on social media indicated two of the injured have died, but this is yet to be officially confirmed.
It was also alleged the Indonesian military carried out the bombing, although there has been no independent confirmation or an official statement from the military regarding its alleged involvement or use of drones in the incident.
Local village leaders held an emergency meeting to express concern over the safety of the parishioners and called for a transparent investigation to prevent rumours from escalating tensions.
Joe Collins of AWPA said the attack was "just another incident in the escalating conflict in West Papua".
"If pressure is not put on Jakarta to stop its military committing human rights abuses, we will have a spiral effect of ongoing clashes between the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) and the security forces, resulting in military operations, human rights abuses, and killings of civilians," Mr Collins said.
AWPA has written a letter to Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong raising concerns about the deteriorating human rights situation in the territory.
"The next few years will be crucial in the lives of Papuans and raising awareness of the issue is still of major importance, wherever supporters can," Mr Collins said.
"If Canberra wants a stable region to our north, it better start caring about the human rights situation in West Papua, otherwise the Papuans might look elsewhere for help."
