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TNI Recovers Caracal Weapon Seized by OPM in Maybrat

Stateline MEDIA Newsroom•October 17, 2026•3 min read

A joint team from Koops Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) Habema successfully recovered a Caracal long-barreled firearm along with 17 rounds of ammunition previously seized by an armed OPM group in Maybrat Regency, Papua Barat Daya, on Friday (16/10/2026).

Key Facts

A Caracal long-barreled firearm along with 17 rounds of 5.56 mm caliber ammunition were seized in Maybrat Regency, Southwest Papua, on Friday (16/10/2026).
The weapon was seized by OPM Kodap IV/Sorong Raya when attacking Satgas Yonif 9 Marine personnel in the Sory region on March 22, 2026.
The search operations involved Satgas Yonif 9 Marinir, Denkul 4/Rajawali V Yonif 411/Pandawa Kostrad, and Satgas Yonif 764/IB.
The discovery began with the arrest of Wapangkodap IV/Sorong Raya Zakarias Fatem (14/10) and the surrender of Anton Fatem and Yesias Fatem (15/10).
TNI is still looking for a K3 Daewoo weapon that is suspected to be hidden in the Maybrat area.

Caracal's weapons are secured in Maybrat

The Joint Operation Command (Koops) team of TNI Habema managed to find and re-secure a piece of long firearm type Caracal along with 17 ammunition caliber 5.56 millimeters in the territory of Maybrat County, Southwest Papua, Friday (16/10/2026).

The success of the security of these weapons is the result of the cooperation of Satgas Pamtas RI-PNG Mobile Yonif 9 Marinir, Denkul 4/Rajawali V from Satgas Yonif 411/Pandawa Kostrad, as well as Satgas Pamtas RI-PNG Yonif 764/IB.

OPM captured since March 22

The Caracal weapons were previously stolen by the armed group OPM Kodap IV/Sorong Raya in an attack on the personnel of the Yonif 9 Marine Satgas in the Sory region, Maybrat, on March 22, 2026.

For seven months, TNI continued to search and develop information to find the hiding location of the weapons.The effort only yielded results after three OPM members were successfully secured in the operation in the Maybrat region.

Starting with the OPM arrest

The discovery of weapons began with the arrest of the Deputy Commander of Kodap IV/Sorong Raya, Zakarias Fatem, who was seized by TNI forces in Aifat East, Maybrat, Wednesday (14/10/2026). Information from Zakarias was then reinforced by deepening the results against Anton Fatem and Yesias Fatem, two OPM members who surrendered on Thursday (15/10/2026).

Anton and Yesias had previously been to have been killed in a shooting contact in the northern forest area of Kampung Kamat, East Aifat District, Friday (9/10/2026).They both survived after escaping through the river as joint forces engaged in the Kamundan River, before finally surrendering to TNI.

Through the process of communication and in-depth information from the three, the joint team browsed the location until it succeeded in finding Caracal weapons and ammunition. Pangkoops TNI Habema Brigjen TNI Riyanto expressed appreciation for the professionalism of the soldiers. "This success demonstrates the importance of the synergy between the unions, the rigour of information, and the professionalism of the soldiers," he said.

Another weapon is still being sought.

Although Caracal weapons have been secured, Koops TNI Habema is still searching for a K3 Daewoo type gun that is believed to be strongly hidden in the Maybrat region.

Brigadier Riyanto affirmed that every security measure is implemented in accordance with the legal provisions while still respecting human values.The re-security of seized weapons is considered important to prevent abuse that can harm society or equipment.