By The Associated Press
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Unidentified gunmen have killed a police officer near the U.S. company Freeport-McMoRan's gold and copper mine in eastern Indonesia.
Company spokesman Ramdani Sirait said the officer was shot Tuesday within the working area of Freeport Indonesia. The area was closed as police investigated.
It was the second shooting this year near the world's largest gold mine in restive Papua province where a low-level insurgency is seeking independence from the Indonesian government.
Two contract workers were killed last month near the mining town of Tembagapura.
Police were not immediately available for comment on the latest attack.
The mine, run by a subsidiary of the Phoenix, Arizona-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. has been hit with arson, roadside attacks and blockades since operations began in the 1970s.
