Separatist rebels release New Zealand pilot after 19 months of captivity in Indonesia's Papua region

Indonesian authorities said Saturday the New Zealand pilot who’s been held hostage for more than a year in the restive Papua region has been freed by separatist rebels. Phillip Mark Mehrtens, the pilot from Christchurch who was working for Indonesian aviation company Susi Air, was handed over early Saturday to a joint security force set up by the Indonesian government to deal with separatist groups in Papua, after separatist rebels let him walk free. Independence fighters led by Egianus Kogoya, a regional commander in the Free Papua Movement, stormed a single-engine plane on a small runway in Paro and abducted Mehrtens on Feb. 7, 2023.