Papua massacre shines light on forgotten conflict

The recent massacre of civilian workers by separatist rebels in Indonesia's restive Papua province has cast a spotlight on one of the world's longest-running insurgencies, with no end to the bloody conflict in sight.

The killings are a marked escalation from decades of mostly sporadic skirmishes between poorly armed and disorganised guerrillas and a powerful Indonesian military accused of gross human rights abuses against civilians.

Some 16 employees of a state-owned contractor were murdered at a remote jungle work camp on Sunday with at least three more workers still missing.

They were building bridges and roads in a major infrastructure push for Indonesia's most impoverished region, but rebels claimed they were legitimate targets, raising concerns that the independence struggle has taken a dangerous new turn.

"There has never been an attack of this type of scale by separatist guerrillas," said Damien Kingsbury, professor of international politics at Australia's Deakin University.

"The outbreaks of mass violence to date have been perpetrated by the Indonesian military."