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Protesters torch regional parliament in Indonesia

August 20, 2019

MANOKWARI, Indonesia: Riots broke out and a local parliament building was torched in Indonesia’s restive Papua region on Monday, as thousands protested against the weekend detention of dozens of Papuan students. Demonstrators took to the streets of Manokwari, the capital of West Papua province, bringing the city of some 130,000 to a standstill as its civic building was nearly reduced to ashes. Some protesters set fire to shops and vehicles, knocked down street signs, and threw rocks at government buildings, according to an AFP reporter at the scene, who estimated several thousand demonstrators were present.