Indonesia military finds 16 bodies after Papua massacre

WAMENA, Indonesia: Indonesian security forces took up the grim task of searching for more bodies Thursday after they retrieved 16 corpses in the aftermath of a massacre by suspected separatist rebels in restive Papua province, the military said Thursday.

The deaths, believed to be of construction workers, mark the deadliest bout of violence in years to hit a region wracked by a low-level independence insurgency.The dead were being sent to the city of Timika from the remote district of Nduga, a mountainous region where the attack happened Sunday, said local military commander Binsar Sianipar.

The dead have not yet been publicly identified and the military did not supply details about how they were killed, saying autopsies would be conducted.