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TIMIKA, Indonesia (AFP)--U.S. mining giant Freeport McMoRan's (FCX) Indonesia subsidiary ordered hundreds of workers at a huge gold and copper mine in Papua province to stay at home Wednesday after a spate of deadly shootings.

Freeport's Indonesia spokesman Mindo Pangaribuan said workers who lived near the coastal town of Timika had been ordered not to come to the Grasberg mine, located in the highlands about 65 kilometers (40 miles) from the town.

The order came after three people including an Australian technician were killed in ambushes along the road between Timika and the mine at the weekend, the worst attacks on Freeport workers in Indonesia since 2002.

"This morning we have asked hundreds of our employees to stay home," Pangaribuan said.

"They are those who live in the lower part of the area in Timika and have to use the road on which the attacks occurred to reach the mining site in Tembagapura."

Some parts of the road were closed and the company - the biggest single taxpayer to the Indonesian government - wasn't sure when it would be reopened, he said.

"We'll have to take further input from the police on this," Pangaribuan said, adding that in other respects operations at the mine were continuing.

The Indonesian military, which along with police is paid "support costs" by Freeport for protecting the mine, has blamed Papuan separatist guerrillas for the attacks.

But police in Papua have said there is no evidence to suggest the poorly-trained and armed rebels were behind the sophisticated ambushes, which involved military and police-issue ammunition.

A commander for the Free Papua Movement, or OPM, guerrillas has reportedly denied involvement, although the separatists' armed wing is a disjointed group that acts locally with little central control.

Australian technician Drew Grant, 29, was killed on Saturday when his car was fired on between Timika and Tembagapura, while a Freeport guard was killed in an ambush on the same road Sunday.

A third victim, a policeman, was found dead in a ravine Monday after fleeing the ambush the day before.

Two American teachers from the Freeport mining town of Tembagapura and an Indonesian colleague were killed in an ambush on the same road in 2002.