Jakarta  (ANTARA News) - Indonesian police are continuing their investigation into Sunday`s shooting incident in the concession area of PT Freeport Indonesia (PT FI) in Timika, Mimika district, Papua, in which nine people were wounded, a spokesman said.

The police had yet to arrest any suspect but had categorized the shooting as an "armed crime", Indonesian Police spokesman Brigadier General Sulistyo told newsmen here Monday.

Indonesian police and military personnel were working together to hunt the suspects while police investigators were gathering evidence from the crime scene and witnesses` testimonies, he said.

On Sunday morning, a group of unknown gunmen opened fire on two buses and four cars at Mile 60 on the road connecting Tembagapura and Kuala Kencana in Timika, Mimika district.

Nine people were injured, including four policemen and five civilians.

Among the wounded civilians were an American expatriate and a South African, a relative of a PT DI employee. They were identified as Howard James Lochart, 59, and Sandra Wilson, 62.

The victims had reportedly been admitted to hospitals in Papua, Jakarta, and Singapore.
The Sunday shooting is the first incident in 2010. In July 2009, an Australian was killed in a similar incident k in Timika.

In August 2002, two Americans and an Indonesian died after gunmen attacked a convoy of mostly school teachers that Freeport Indonesia employed.

Indonesia is fighting a minor separatist movement in Papua, the country`s easternmost province. (*)

Editor: Jafar M Sidik

COPYRIGHT © 2010

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