Security guard killed in further mine attacks

A security guard working for US mining giant Freeport was killed and seven other people were injured today in a pair of attacks by suspected rebels in Indonesia's Papua province, police and company officials said.

The assaults were in the same area where authorities were investigating the fatal shooting a day earlier of a 29-year-old Australian working for the company, Freeport said in a statement.

The escalation in violence in one of the nation's most underdeveloped and remote regions is an unwelcome development for Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was re-elected just last week for a second five-year-term. It also raised questions about a possible resurgence of Papua's secessionist movement, which until recent months had shown few signs of life.

The security guard, working on a contract for Freeport, was killed in an ambush by suspected rebels this morning when "shots were fired at two security vehicles", Freeport said in a statement. Five others were injured.

Police units responding to the gunfire were ambushed by suspected rebels near to the scene of the first shooting.

"The attackers opened fire from distant hills, making it difficult for the police to return fire," said a spokesmen.

Two police officers were hospitalised with gunshot wounds.

The Australian mining expert was shot and killed on Saturday while travelling in a vehicle in the same area. Several other people in the car were unharmed, leading police to conclude the attack may have been the work of a rebel sniper.

The Grasberg mining complex, a global supplier of copper and gold that began operations under the Suharto dictatorship, has been a constant source of friction with local Papuans angered over the outflow of profit to foreign investors, while they remain poor.

Security has been beefed up at the site since Saturday's killing and employees were advised not to travel to Timika, the town closest to the mine.