Papuan separatists kill US pilot, burn plane in attack

New Zealand pilot taken hostage sends heartbreaking message to wife and young son

The West Papua National Liberation Army shot dead American pilot Nicholas F Gosselin and set his plane on fire after it landed in the Yahukimo region of Highland Papua province.

Authorities found the Indonesian aircraft carrying Nicholas Gosselin and seven passengers burned at a local airport in Yahukimo

A low-level battle for independence ⁠from Indonesia has ⁠long raged in the ​resource-rich western half of Papua, where attacks by independence fighters have grown deadlier and more frequent as they have procured better weaponry.