Papuan rebels have released Telecom workers taken hostage: Police

Indonesian Military and police personnel surround a helicopter in Kenyam district in the Papuan regency of Nduga on Feb 2. The chopper was used to evacuate 15 people who had been held hostage by a separatist armed group. - Cenderawasih Military Command

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): A group of telecommunications workers taken hostage by an armed rebel group in the Papuan Highlands has been released, the local police have said, in the latest kidnapping crisis in the restive region.

Reports emerged on Friday (May 12) that four workers from PT Infrastruktur Bisnis Sejahtera (IBS) who had flown to the province’s Okbab district to inspect the construction of a base transceiver station (BTS), were taken hostage by armed men thought to be members of a Papuan rebel group.