Violence in Bireuen regency continues<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Lhokseumawe, Aceh<\/p>\n
The bedug (large drum) outside the small mosque in Ujung Blang
\nvillage, Gandapura district, Bireuen, pounded incessantly on
\nTuesday, signaling that the remains of another victim of
\nIndonesia's brutal war in Aceh had been found.<\/p>\n
Curious residents soon gathered at a wooden house where two
\nbodies were laid out pending burial.<\/p>\n
A woman, Asmaul, 20, was weeping for the death of her mother,
\nWardani Ibrahim, 48, and sister Nurlina, 25, who were both shot
\nby a group of unidentified people as they were leaving for the
\nmarket to sell traditional cookies early in the morning.<\/p>\n
Asmaul will now go to live with her grandmother. Her father
\npassed away in 1996 of an illness.<\/p>\n
"Why were they killed? The family had only been selling timpan
\ntepu (traditional food) to survive since the death of Wardani's
\nhusband," one of the neighbors said.<\/p>\n
The attackers opened fire at Wardani and Nurlina as they were
\nriding a motorcycle on Jl. Ulee Tutu in Tingkeuem Baruonly, near
\nthe main road connecting the Aceh capital of Banda Aceh and the
\nneighboring provincial capital of Medan. The mother was shot in
\nthe chest, while Nurlila was shot in the head and abdomen from
\nclose range.<\/p>\n
Gandapura Police chief Second Insp. Ramlis accused the Free
\nAceh Movement (GAM) rebels of committing the murders. The victims
\nused to sell their timpan tepu to troops in the Kuta Blang area.<\/p>\n
"The soldiers often bought food from them, so they may have
\nbeen taken for cuak (collaborators), or perhaps they were killed
\nbecause they refused to give the money demanded by GAM," Ramlis
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He said the same modus operandi was used in the murder of
\nBudiman Chamsyah, a businessman from Gandapura district, on
\nMonday for reportedly refusing to pay protection money demanded
\nby GAM.<\/p>\n
However, witnesses said one of the two men who shot Budiman
\nwore a red-and-white bandana and had a small red-and-white flag
\nattached to the muzzle of his rifle.<\/p>\n
Ramlis refused to comment on this allegation, saying the
\npolice were investigating both murder cases.<\/p>\n
Later on Tuesday, the Gandapura branch of the Indonesian Red
\nCross (PMI) unearthed a grave containing the remains of an
\nunidentified man in a remote area surrounded by shrimp ponds in
\nBlang Re. The nearest village, Samuti Krueng, is about two
\nkilometers away from the grave.<\/p>\n
The partly decomposed body had been shot in the leg and
\nabdomen. His face, which had been covered by a sarong, was no
\nlonger recognizable. Bullet casings were also found inside the
\ngrave.<\/p>\n
The body was that of a man in his 30s, 1.65 meters in height,
\nlight complexion, and wearing a beard and moustache. According to
\nthe PMI's Gandapura coordinator, Nurdin, the body may have been
\nin the ground for up six days.<\/p>\n
It was the fifth grave containing unidentified remains
\ndiscovered in the district in the last two days.<\/p>\n
The graves of four unidentified men were exhumed on Monday in
\ntwo different locations. All the victims had been shot.<\/p>\n
No one has so far claimed the bodies.<\/p>\n
As of Monday, the state-run Dr. Fauziah Hospital in Bireuen
\nhad treated 32 civilian victims, 12 of them suffering from
\ngunshot wounds.<\/p>\n
The hospital's morgue had also received 37 bodies, most of
\nthem civilians.<\/p>\n
According to morgue attendant, Bahroem, the bodies had been
\nburied in Karang Rejo cemetery in Jeumpa district.<\/p>",
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