JAKARTA, March 17: Police fired shots into the air as they patrolled the capital of Indonesia’s Papua province on Friday after three policemen and a soldier died the previous day in clashes with protesters demanding closure of a giant US-run mine. Three people were hurt in the incident outside a military headquarters in Jayapura.

Thursday’s violence in Jayapura, on the north-eastern shore of Papua, about 3,500kms from Jakarta, has sparked fears of more protests against the US firm Freeport-McMoran Cooper & Gold, which runs the giant mine.

Last month, mine operations were halted for four days before protesters, mostly illegal miners, left the site near the town of Timika, 500kms southwest of Jayapura.

The mine has been operating normally this week.

It was unclear why police fired the shots on Friday and there were no reports of fresh protests or mass violence. “We are still investigating the matter,” he told a news conference in Jakarta.

Papuan police spokesman Kartono Wangsadisastra earlier said the situation in Jayapura and the surrounding areas was back to normal with businesses and offices open as usual.

He said 57 people had been detained after Thursday’s clashes in which dozens were wounded when students pelted policemen with stones to stop them from clearing a roadblock.—Reuters