Bodies of those killed in recent separatist fighting in Indonesia’s restive province of Papua have been recovered. Indonesia’s military had earlier confirmed that 16 construction workers and one soldier were killed in the December 2 attack, one of the deadliest seen in years in the area.
Authorities are still searching for at least three workers still missing since the violence one day after what many Papuan consider to be their Independence Day from Dutch colonial rule. Indonesia’s government insists it will not negotiate with Papua separatists, and has responded with a counter-insurgency operation that reportedly killed four civilians.