Aceh military compound hit by grenade attack<\/p>\n
LHOKSEUMAWE, Aceh (JP): Five grenades hit a military complex
\ncontaining air defense artillery just after midnight on Monday.
\nThere were no fatalities or injuries reported in the attack, an
\napparent reaction to last week's fatal shooting which claimed 41
\nlives.<\/p>\n
The attack occurred as a team from the National Commission on
\nHuman Rights investigated alleged human rights violations in the
\nMay 3 clash which involved military troops and thousands of
\nvillagers from Krueng Geukueh, 15 kilometers west of here.<\/p>\n
A 17-year-old youth identified as Nyak Wan was arrested for
\nalleged espionage prior to the attack. He is now under police
\ndetention.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Military (TNI) blamed the incident on a
\nseparatist rebel group led by Hasan Tiro, who is in self-exile in
\nSweden. In a press release issued on Tuesday, the TNI information
\ncenter said a search was underway for the attackers.<\/p>\n
One of the grenades exploded near a missile arsenal, while the
\nother grenades caused minor damage to a cooperative building and
\na meeting hall inside the complex.<\/p>\n
The attackers also fired on a guard post and the officer
\ndormitory before fleeing.<\/p>\n
The chief of the Lilawangsa Military Command which oversees
\nNorth Aceh, East Aceh and Pidie, Col. Johnny Wahab, said the
\nattack was proof the rebel group possessed heavy arms. He said
\nthe grenades were possibly smuggled from abroad.<\/p>\n
\"Even Pindad (the state-owned arms producer based in Bandung)
\ncannot produce them,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The commander of the artillery detachment, Maj. Santun, told a
\nlocal reporter the grenades could have destroyed the North Aceh
\ncapital of Lhokseumawe if they hit the missile control system.
\nThe attackers apparently used a rocket launcher to fire the
\ngrenades, according to Santun.<\/p>\n
Santun said there was evidence the attack was planned by the
\nseparatist rebel group. He said his troops observed Nyak Wan
\nwalking around the military complex since 11 a.m. on Monday.<\/p>\n
\"Learning from the bloody clash last week and the attack
\ntoday, it looks like that the separatist rebel group is moving
\ncloser to its main target of destroying the military installation
\nhere,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Two of five members of the rights commission team, Koesparmono
\nIrsan and Said Agil Siradj, went to the military complex after
\nmeeting with Johnny, Regent Tarmizi A. Karim, North Aceh Military
\nCommander Lt. Col. Giyono, North Aceh Police chief Lt. Col.
\nIskandar Hasan and speaker of the regency legislature Mas
\nTarmansyah.<\/p>\n
In an earlier meeting with Governor Syamsuddin Mahmud, members
\nof the rights body watched a video tape of the May 3 clash. It
\nwas unclear, however, who videotaped the incident, Antara
\nreported.<\/p>\n
The video shows women and children bleeding on the ground and
\nscreams for help are heard amid the chaos.<\/p>\n
Team leader Koesparmono said human rights violations obviously
\ntook place during the fatal shooting, evidenced by the fact that
\na number of villagers were shot although they were already lying
\non the ground.<\/p>\n
\"Many innocent people, women and children who deserved
\nprotection from the military, fell victim in the incident. They
\ncarried batons or machetes, but were met with bullets,\"
\nKoesparmono said.<\/p>\n
Koesparmono and his team also visited some of the 44 victims
\nbeing treated in local hospitals. The death toll from the
\nshooting has reached 41 as of Sunday night. More than 100 people
\nwere injured in the incident.<\/p>\n
The leader of a local fact-finding team, TS Sani, said at
\nleast 12 people were still missing as of Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The rights body team will return to Jakarta on Wednesday and
\nis expected to complete its report by next week, according to
\nKoesparmono.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in addition to the two battalions of riot troops
\ndeployed here, TNI will send dozens of high-ranking military and
\npolice officers, mostly natives of Aceh, to the troubled
\nprovince. The team, led by the secretary-general of the Ministry
\nof Defense and Security, Lt. Gen. Fachrul Razi, is scheduled to
\narrive on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, Catholic priest and social worker Sandyawan
\nSumardi refused a government award presented on Tuesday for
\nNational Social Solidarity Day to protest \"the government's lack
\nof political will in stopping violence in Aceh and East Timor\".<\/p>\n
In Bandung, Minister of Defense and Security\/TNI Commander
\nGen. Wiranto joined the chorus of those blaming the separatist
\nrebel group under Hasan Tiro for the unrest in Aceh. (43\/amd)<\/p>",
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