10 rebels, two soldiers killed in ambush
10 rebels, two soldiers killed in ambush
Agencies, Lhokseumawe, Aceh
Government troops ambushed dozens of rebel fighters in Aceh Thursday, killing 10 insurgents and losing two soldiers in some of the worst fighting since the government launched its offensive a month ago, the military said.
The firefight followed an overnight siege by troops of suspected separatists in the remote Cot Kruet area in North Aceh, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Achmad Yani Basuki.
"Troops ambushed the rebels following tips from locals that the rebels planned to pass through the village," said Yani.
The soldiers killed were identified as Second Sgt. Budianto and Pvt. Suwarto. There have been 26 soldiers killed since the operation to crush the rebels began on May 19.
Soldiers confiscated six AK-47 assault rifles, an SS-1 and an M-16 rifles plus documents belonging to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels,
The gunfight took place at dawn around 4 a.m. when a group patrolling troops from the army's 408th Battalion heard dozens of suspected rebels visited a house of a local resident, identified as Solihin.
The house was set on fire during the armed clash, which occurred around 10 kilometers (6 miles) from a giant natural gas field tapped by U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil Oil.
A spokeswomen for the company told AP operations at the field were unaffected by the fighting, 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Lhokseumawe, the capital of North Aceh.
On Wednesday troops killed another two rebels during a clash at Pasi Raja in South Aceh, Yani said. Two soldiers were injured.
Police shot dead a rebel at Cot Punti in West Aceh district on Wednesday, local police chief Mukhtar Harun said.
Also on Wednesday two bodies with gunshot wounds were found separately in Aceh Besar and West Aceh, aid workers said.
A hospital worker at Langsa in Central Aceh said three bodies bearing torture marks and gunshot wounds were taken to the hospital by Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) volunteers on Thursday.
As of Wednesday PMI had evacuated 194 bodies.
Also on Thursday, a police officer was detained for allegedly raping a 15-year-old student in Bireuen, northern Aceh, on June 12, said Aceh police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Sayed Husaini.
At least 40,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Aceh's countryside or were evacuated to the northern towns of Bireuen and Lhokseumawe because of the continuing fighting.
The guerrillas have been battling for an independent state on the northern tip of Sumatra island since 1976. At least 12,000 have been killed since then.