Protesters in Indonesia’s easternmost region of Papua have torched government buildings and fired arrows at police in violent clashes that saw at least three people killed.

For the past two weeks, thousands of civilians have been demonstrating across the vast province against perceived discrimination from Indonesian officials.

Sparked by a video in which security officers call Papuan students “monkeys” and “dogs”, the protests are increasingly characterised by demands for independence from Indonesia, which launched a military operation to seize Papua half-a-century ago.

On Thursday demonstrators set buildings ablaze in the provincial capital of Jayapura, forcing the state electricity firm to cut power to parts of the city.

According to Veronica Koman, a human rights lawyer and member of the National Committee for West Papua activist group, the provincial Papuan Assembly and “several other buildings” in Jayapura were burned. Police fired tear gas to disperse protesters who set fires to cars and threw stones, according to state news agency Antara.

On Wednesday, more than 1,000 people tried to storm a police station in the town of Deiyai, according to police, some wielding machetes and bow-and-arrows.