Island in focus: 950 soldiers sent for border patrol In West Papua

The Jakarta Post, Semarang | Archipelago | Mon, September 14 2015, 3:12 PM -

Nine hundred and fifty personnel from the Army’s Diponegoro Regional Military IV Command (Kodam) overseeing Central Java and Yogyakarta were deployed to Papua on Saturday to patrol the border area between Indonesia’s easternmost province and neighboring Papua New Guinea (PNG).

The personnel left Semarang’s Tanjung Emas Port in war ships KRI Teluk Cendrawasih and KRI Teluk Teratai, with Kodam chief Maj. Gen. Jaswandi and Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo overseeing their departure.

Jaswandi said they would later be stationed along the 760-kilometer-long land border between Indonesia and PNG. “This [deployment] is a routine [assignment]. Among our main duties are to protect border crossers and to prevent illegal logging practices. Those are noble duties for the soldiers,” he said.