Fighting between police, villagers kills 2 in Indonesia

Two people were killed and six injured after police clashed Monday with villagers defending a district chief charged with corruption in Indonesia's Papua province, police said Monday.

Photo: Fighting between police, villagers kills 2 in Indonesia

Police were questioning 139 people after the violence in Wamena, the capital of the mountainous district of Jayawijaya, said Col. Kartono Wangsadisastra, a police spokesman.

Wamena is about 3,300 kilometers (2,050 miles) east of the capital, Jakarta.

About 200 indigenous Papuans attacked police and prosecutors after hearing that authorities planned to detain David Hubi, a district chief who has evaded a summons for trial six times.

Police opened fire on the crowd after they were attacked with arrows, daggers and other traditional weapons, Kartono said.

"The clash was inevitable," he said. "All the victims were civilians and hit by bullets."

Police were holding 111 men and 28 women at a local police station, reports the AP.

I.L.