Indonesian army head: Soldier deaths untrue

JAKARTA: Indonesia's military chief on Tuesday dismissed a separatist group's claim that it had killed more than a dozen soldiers who were searching for a New Zealand pilot taken hostage by the rebels in the restive Papua region.

Adm. Yudo Margono and the military's top brass flew to the region on Monday after receiving initial information that attackers from the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, ambushed 36 government soldiers in the hilly district of Nduga in mountainous Papua Highlands province.