Rebels in Papua claim multiple soldier deaths in ongoing conflict.

Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Papua region claim to have killed at least 13 Indonesian military soldiers after the army sent troops in search of captured New Zealand pilot, Phillip Mehrtens, who was taken hostage in February. The rebels said they proposed peace negotiations with the New Zealand and Indonesian governments, but for two months their letters had been ignored. The TPNPB, designated by the Indonesian government as a terrorist group, originally said that Mehrtens would not be released until Jakarta acknowledged Papuan independence and withdrew its troops from the region.