Skirmishes yield 4 rebel deaths in Aceh<\/p>\n
Agencies, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Military (TNI) shot dead four separatist rebels
\nincluding a suspected senior figure as it marked the first half
\nof its major offensive against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).<\/p>\n
Troops killed three suspected GAM members on the outskirts of
\nthe town of Lhokseumawe on Monday, military spokesman Lt. Col.
\nAhmad Yani Basuki said in Lhokseumawe on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"It is probable that one of the victims held an important post
\nin the GAM structure or had close ties with the leaders of GAM,\"
\nYani said, without identifying the rebel leader.<\/p>\n
He said a list of phone numbers of GAM leaders was found in his
\npocket.<\/p>\n
Soldiers killed another rebel during a raid in the Susoh area
\nof southwest Aceh on Monday, said local military commander Capt.
\nSyahrial. The victim was said to have been seeking medical
\ntreatment for a gunshot wound to his arm.<\/p>\n
A primary school principal was found shot dead at Sakti in
\nPidie district on Monday, said district military chief Lt. Col.
\nAbdurrohim Siregar.<\/p>\n
He had been abducted by GAM guerrillas a day earlier on his
\nway home from attending an Indonesian Independence Day ceremony
\nin Sigli, Siregar said.<\/p>\n
Residents of Idi Rayeuk in East Aceh said seven civilians were
\ninjured by two blasts there late Sunday. Attackers had fired
\ngrenades through a launcher at an area where a crowd was watching
\nan Independence Day display.<\/p>\n
Trucks and buses resumed operations on Tuesday along the main
\nroad linking Banda Aceh and Medan in neighboring North Sumatra
\nprovince, Antara reported.<\/p>\n
Drivers had stayed off the road for three days. The news
\nagency said they feared attacks after three vehicles were torched
\nby an unidentified group some 70 kilometers east of Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
In his assessment of the first three months of the operation,
\nArmy chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu said the military
\npersonnel had managed to improve their discipline, which resulted
\nin minimum casualties among the TNI.<\/p>\n
\"The outcome is great, there were a few unnecessary (military)
\nfatalities. In the first month of the operation we lost too many
\ntroops,\" Ryamizard said on the sidelines of his visit to the
\nArmy's Special Forces education and training center in Batujajar
\nnear Bandung.<\/p>\n
He said the troops had improved their discipline, thanks to
\nthe strict law enforcement applied on errant soldiers. Three
\nsoldiers received a prison sentence for violence against
\ncivilians during a raid to find rebels who were hiding in a
\nvillage early last month.<\/p>\n
Security and order has been restored to a large extent in the
\nprovince, according to the Army chief, except for several blasts
\nthat marred the anniversary celebration of Indonesia's
\nindependence on Sunday. \"The explosions were just part of GAM's
\nefforts to assert their existence,\" Ryamizard said.<\/p>\n
The military says 704 guerrillas have been killed and more
\nthan 1,500 others have been arrested or have surrendered since
\nthe operation was launched on May 19.<\/p>\n
The military says it has lost 45 soldiers and the police 13
\npersonnel. Antara reported 191 civilians have also been killed so
\nfar.<\/p>\n
The International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank,
\nhas questioned military figures on the number of rebel
\nfatalities. It says there is no way to verify whether all of
\nthese were really guerrillas or whether some were civilians.<\/p>\n
Later on Tuesday, troops and local residents in Cirik village
\nin Aceh Jaya regency exhumed two graves believed to belong to
\nformer servicemen who were killed by rebels in 2000.<\/p>\n
One of the servicemen was identified as a low-ranking Army
\nsoldier, M. Jhoni Cut and the other was police officer Safrizal,
\nchief of Teuku Umar military command overseeing northern Aceh
\nCol. Geerhan Lantara said.<\/p>\n
The graves were situated near a hill in a remote area in Aceh
\nJaya.<\/p>\n
Jhoni was a security guard of state telecommunication company
\nPT Telkom before a group of Aceh rebels abducted and eventually
\nkilled him.<\/p>\n
The troops only found some hair believed to belong to
\nSafrizal, who like Jhoni, was kidnapped before his death.<\/p>\n
\"His remains might have fallen into the ravine as the grave
\nhad eroded,\" one of the military troops said.<\/p>\n
Local people also informed the TNI of the presence of five
\nmore graves that might have been used to bury a number of
\ncivilians killed by the separatist rebels. But the TNI troops
\nwere unable to exhume the remaining graves due to poor light.<\/p>\n
Aceh's martial law administrator Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarya
\ninaugurated a course for 381 former rebels, including six women
\nin Aceh Besar district on Monday. The course aims to teach them
\njob skills and a \"national\" outlook.<\/p>",
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