At the urging of President Sukarno, Prime Minister Ali Sastroamidjojo began authorising limited incursions into West New Guinea in 1952.John Legge, Sukarno: A Political Biography, pp.277–78. However, these early incursions were militarily unsuccessful, and Indonesia did not launch any more military operations until 1960.Ken Conboy, 'Kopassus: Inside Indonesia's Special Forces', p. 62. According to Ken Conboy, the first incursions were 'amateurish', the first infiltration of Gag Island in 1952 led to the arrest of the infiltrators within days. A second infiltration attempt one year later in 1953, this time directed at Kaimana, in like manner was promptly contained and the infiltrators arrested. A third infiltration attempt in Etna Bay 1954 was a more serious affair, a well-armed party of 42 infiltrators led by Johannes Abraham Dimara were able to abduct the Dutch police officer Sergeant van Krieken back to Indonesian territory. The infiltration force was engaged by Dutch marines, resulting in eleven Indonesian casualties and the capture of the remaining Indonesian forces, the Indonesian government reluctantly accepted it could not mount a credible military challenge against the Dutch in West New Guinea, and it was not until 1960 that Indonesia would again test the Dutch military position in West New Guinea. Alongside this the Dutch authorities began capturing Papuan youths members of Organisasi Pembebasan Irian (OPI) from Sorong branch, as Dimara was a former chairman in 1950, he was exiled to Digul until 1960.
