Another official killed in Aceh<\/p>\n
Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
Four gunmen riding on two motorcycles shot dead on Thursday a
\nsenior government official on the Banda Aceh-Medan road in Cunda
\nvillage, some 1.5 kilometers from the giant industrial town of
\nLhokseumawe in North Aceh, a humanitarian activist said.<\/p>\n
Forty-seven-year-old Muchlis Ali, the regency secretary for
\nNorth Aceh, was hit twice in the head and once in the leg when he
\nwas on his way to his office at around 7:45 a.m. on Thursday,
\nsaid the activist, who wanted to be anonymous.<\/p>\n
Eyewitnesses, including Muchlis' driver A. Malik, said the
\ngunmen tried to kidnap the official but he resisted. The
\nassailants then shot him in the knee and twice in the head.<\/p>\n
Malik, along with several locals, rushed Muchlis to Lilawangsa
\nMilitary Hospital but he died a few minutes later.<\/p>\n
Police questioned the driver to further find out about the
\nattackers, but Malik said he did not recognize the gunmen.<\/p>\n
Lilawangsa Military Commander Col. M. Jahja expressed anger
\nover the incident. \"If they (the assailants) are mad at us, do
\nnot target civilians,\" Jahja said after paying his respects at
\nthe hospital.<\/p>\n
Officials, however, suspect that the attackers were members of
\nthe Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group.<\/p>\n
GAM senior commander Amri Abdul Wahab has denied
\nresponsibility for the attack. \"We couldn't possibly do that. So
\ndo not blindly accuse us,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Locals, however, were puzzled by the killing since it took
\nplace only about 200 meters from North Aceh Police station. About
\n300 meters east from the site of the incident there is also a
\nsecurity post and some 400 meters to the south is a military
\nbase.<\/p>\n
Locals said it was quite impossible for the assailants to flee
\nthe scene as it was surrounded by security posts.<\/p>\n
A similar modus operandi was also used in the assassinations
\nof Syiah Kuala University rector Dayan Dawood on Sept. 6 this
\nyear, of former Aceh deputy governor Maj. Gen. (ret) Teuku Djohan
\non May 10, 2001 and of IAIN rector Ar-Raniry Safwan Idris on
\nSept. 16 last year.<\/p>\n
At least 1,200 people have been killed in Aceh this year.<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri led a peace mission to Aceh
\nlast month but rejected independence for the resource-rich
\nprovince.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/another-official-killed-in-aceh-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}