10 rebels killed as operation enters 62nd day
10 rebels killed as operation enters 62nd day
Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh
Soldiers shot dead at least 10 rebels in several regencies on
Saturday, raising the death toll to 485 two months after the
military operation was launched on May 19.
Spokesman for the martial law administration Col. Ditya
Soedarsono said on Saturday that the shooting of the rebels was
the most recent development in the military campaign, which is
entering its 62nd day of combat.
"In addition, 383 rebels have been arrested and 351 others
have voluntarily surrendered to security authorities so far. But
the military and the police have lost 35 personnel and the number
of injured has reached 126," he said.
He said the military had confiscated 223 weapons and tens of
thousands of rounds of ammunition from the rebels during the
operation.
The police have declared 159 of the arrested rebels as
suspects, and 60 are to go on trial immediately as their dossiers
have already been submitted to the prosecutor's offices in the
respective regencies.
Three rebels in Takengon, Central Aceh, were sentenced to five
years' imprisonment for their active participation in the armed
rebellion against the legitimate government.
Otto Syamsuddin Ishak, a sociologist at state-run Syah Kuala
University in Banda Aceh, gave a thumbs-down to the "integrated
operation", saying that it has yielded nothing but the deaths of
rebels and innocent civilians.
He said that the majority of people were still living in fear
of terror and intimidation from the conflicting sides.
He added that public administrations in regencies,
subdistricts and villages were still ineffective, despite the
appointment of military officers as district heads to replace
officials who had resigned.
Meanwhile, Aceh Provincial Police Chief Insp. Gen. Bachrumsyah
Kasman called on clerics and other Acehnese figures to help the
Jakarta forces in the campaign to crush the separatist Free Aceh
Movement.
"The military and the police cannot quell the armed rebellion
without the help of the people," he said.
"Clerics in the province should explain to their congregations
as to why the military has launched the military operation."