GAM spokesman killed in police raid<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Aceh Police claim that they have shot dead a high-ranking
\nmember of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on Saturday in a raid on a
\nhouse located some 10 kilometers from the provincial capital of
\nBanda Aceh.<\/p>\n
Ayah Sofyan alias Zakaria Yahya, a GAM spokesman for Aceh
\nBesar district was killed in the operation in Kuta Baro village,
\nAceh Police chief Insp. Gen. Yusuf Mangga Barani said as quoted
\nby Antara.<\/p>\n
He said Sofyan also served as a deputy for operations to the
\nGAM military chief and commander of a GAM division based in Aceh
\nBesar district.<\/p>\n
The rebel group has yet to confirm Sofyan's death, but his
\nnephew, Azhari, said he believed that the body, lying at a police
\nclinic in Lampteuman in Banda Aceh, was his uncle.<\/p>\n
Mangga Barani said the police also confiscated some important
\ndocuments from the raided house, including a GAM organizational
\nstructure chart.<\/p>\n
However, he said the police were unable to arrest a number of
\nother rebels who were in the same building along with Sofyan
\nduring the raid as they managed to escape.<\/p>\n
The Aceh Police chief said his personnel had observed Sofyan
\nand his close assistants for some time before launching the
\noperation.<\/p>\n
Sofyan's body is expected to be buried in his home village of
\nLamreueng, Aceh Besar.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, a mob of unidentified miscreants set fire to
\na minitruck carrying newspapers on its way from the Sultan
\nIskandar Muda Airport in Banda Aceh on Saturday, Antara reported.<\/p>\n
The fire, which inflicted material losses of at least Rp 20
\nmillion, took place at Santan village at the border between Aceh
\nBesar and Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
\"The incident caused most of Banda Aceh's residents to miss
\nthe latest world news on Saturday,\" chief of Aceh's Indonesian
\nJournalists Association (PWI) Adnan N.S. was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n
Adnan, who is also the owner of the burned vehicle, said
\nthousands of copies of newspapers carried by the truck were
\ndelivered from the North Sumatra capital of Medan and Jakarta.<\/p>\n
He said the arsonists were riding a motorcycle, and apparently
\nwere targeting a certain newspaper publishing company based in
\nBanda Aceh.<\/p>\n
Prior to the arson, the company in question had received
\nthreats by an anonymous caller, Adnan said.<\/p>\n
\"But they missed the target because the minitruck belongs to
\nme, not the newspaper publishing company,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He urged the local authorities to investigate the case and
\narrest the arsonists.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the PWI central board Tarman Azzam also deplored
\nthe incident, Adnan said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/gam-spokesman-killed-in-police-raid-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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