Aceh military compound hit by grenade attack

Aceh military compound hit by grenade attack

LHOKSEUMAWE, Aceh (JP): Five grenades hit a military complex
containing air defense artillery just after midnight on Monday.
There were no fatalities or injuries reported in the attack, an
apparent reaction to last week's fatal shooting which claimed 41
lives.

The attack occurred as a team from the National Commission on
Human Rights investigated alleged human rights violations in the
May 3 clash which involved military troops and thousands of
villagers from Krueng Geukueh, 15 kilometers west of here.

A 17-year-old youth identified as Nyak Wan was arrested for
alleged espionage prior to the attack. He is now under police
detention.

The Indonesian Military (TNI) blamed the incident on a
separatist rebel group led by Hasan Tiro, who is in self-exile in
Sweden. In a press release issued on Tuesday, the TNI information
center said a search was underway for the attackers.

One of the grenades exploded near a missile arsenal, while the
other grenades caused minor damage to a cooperative building and
a meeting hall inside the complex.

The attackers also fired on a guard post and the officer
dormitory before fleeing.

The chief of the Lilawangsa Military Command which oversees
North Aceh, East Aceh and Pidie, Col. Johnny Wahab, said the
attack was proof the rebel group possessed heavy arms. He said
the grenades were possibly smuggled from abroad.

"Even Pindad (the state-owned arms producer based in Bandung)
cannot produce them," he said.

The commander of the artillery detachment, Maj. Santun, told a
local reporter the grenades could have destroyed the North Aceh
capital of Lhokseumawe if they hit the missile control system.
The attackers apparently used a rocket launcher to fire the
grenades, according to Santun.

Santun said there was evidence the attack was planned by the
separatist rebel group. He said his troops observed Nyak Wan
walking around the military complex since 11 a.m. on Monday.

"Learning from the bloody clash last week and the attack
today, it looks like that the separatist rebel group is moving
closer to its main target of destroying the military installation
here," he said.

Two of five members of the rights commission team, Koesparmono
Irsan and Said Agil Siradj, went to the military complex after
meeting with Johnny, Regent Tarmizi A. Karim, North Aceh Military
Commander Lt. Col. Giyono, North Aceh Police chief Lt. Col.
Iskandar Hasan and speaker of the regency legislature Mas
Tarmansyah.

In an earlier meeting with Governor Syamsuddin Mahmud, members
of the rights body watched a video tape of the May 3 clash. It
was unclear, however, who videotaped the incident, Antara
reported.

The video shows women and children bleeding on the ground and
screams for help are heard amid the chaos.

Team leader Koesparmono said human rights violations obviously
took place during the fatal shooting, evidenced by the fact that
a number of villagers were shot although they were already lying
on the ground.

"Many innocent people, women and children who deserved
protection from the military, fell victim in the incident. They
carried batons or machetes, but were met with bullets,"
Koesparmono said.

Koesparmono and his team also visited some of the 44 victims
being treated in local hospitals. The death toll from the
shooting has reached 41 as of Sunday night. More than 100 people
were injured in the incident.

The leader of a local fact-finding team, TS Sani, said at
least 12 people were still missing as of Tuesday.

The rights body team will return to Jakarta on Wednesday and
is expected to complete its report by next week, according to
Koesparmono.

Meanwhile, in addition to the two battalions of riot troops
deployed here, TNI will send dozens of high-ranking military and
police officers, mostly natives of Aceh, to the troubled
province. The team, led by the secretary-general of the Ministry
of Defense and Security, Lt. Gen. Fachrul Razi, is scheduled to
arrive on Wednesday.

In Jakarta, Catholic priest and social worker Sandyawan
Sumardi refused a government award presented on Tuesday for
National Social Solidarity Day to protest "the government's lack
of political will in stopping violence in Aceh and East Timor".

In Bandung, Minister of Defense and Security/TNI Commander
Gen. Wiranto joined the chorus of those blaming the separatist
rebel group under Hasan Tiro for the unrest in Aceh. (43/amd)