Aceh remains tense, 50 shops set on fire

JAKARTA (JP): At least 50 shop-houses belonging to residents of Teunom subdistrict in West Aceh regency were razed in the early hours of Tuesday, leaving 325 people homeless.

No fatalities have so far been reported and material losses have yet to be estimated.

Police said they were still investigating the cause of the fire, which was first spotted at 2:30 a.m., Antara reported

"I'm still waiting for the final report of the incident, along with the estimated amount of material losses caused by the fire from head of the local (Teunom) police subprecinct," West Aceh Police precinct chief Lt. Col. Jhon Bahriel said.

Teunom is located near the main road that connects the provincial capital of Banda Aceh and Meulaboh, capital of the West Aceh regency. It is about 190 kilometers from Banda Aceh.

The 55 families who had lost their houses and shops took refuge with relatives and neighbors.

The provincial office of social affairs is said to have donated two tons of rice to the fire victims.

Tensions in West Aceh, as well as the four other troubled regencies of North Aceh, East Aceh, Central Aceh and Pidie, have been escalating in the past few weeks. A series of armed clashes between the military and alleged Free Aceh separatist guerrillas, have led to military raids and violence in the area.

Aceh has 11 regencies.

Many locals, including those in the capital of Banda Aceh, have recently called on people to refrain from voting in the June 7 general election. They urged the action, unless Jakarta guaranteed a referendum in which Acehnese would be allowed to choose between independence or wider autonomy.

New horrific incidents were reported from the four regencies in the past few days.

Head of the Blang Rakal village in Timang Gajah subdistrict in Central Aceh, Muhammad Ali, was shot to death at 7 a.m. on his way to buy a pack of cigarettes at a nearby stall.

Central Aceh Police chief Lt. Col. Misik Natari said Ali, 50, was widely known by local villagers as a cuak, the local word for a civilian assisting military operations. He said Ali was shot by two armed men riding a motorcycle.

In the North Aceh capital of Lhokseumawe, residents of at least 20 locations here said on Tuesday they heard continuous gun fire in their respective neighborhoods from Monday midnight until the early hours of Tuesday.

Many of them believed the gunshots were fired by members of a Free Aceh separatist group.

"It looks like the guerrillas were showing off," a local correspondent said.

He said the shootings probably came from the same rebel group, which comprised an estimated 20 members.

"They just fired their guns into the air and then hastily moved on to another place," he said.

The group was seen, at among other spots, Cunda traffic circle, near the KNPI building, Banda Sakti Police subprecinct and a banking office complex on Jl. Merdeka.

The KNPI building is temporarily used to house hundreds of refugees from nearby areas.

"Following the shootings most of the people of Lhokseumawe remained in their homes. Most of the shops were closed today," the source said.

The local North Aceh authorities are still considering imposing a curfew in the area.

"I will hold a meeting with all related institutions to discuss the possibility," North Aceh Regent Tarmizi A. Karim said on Tuesday.

The curfew would be imposed from 10:30 p.m. through 5:00 a.m.

Aceh Military Commander Col. Jhonny Wahab said he would support the authority's decision to impose the curfew on the district.

The military has persistently blamed the Free Aceh separatist rebels for creating an unfavorable atmosphere in the regencies.

Tens of thousands of people from the area have fled their hometowns to other places, including Banda Aceh.

In Jakarta, Minister of Defense and Security/Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto reiterated that TNI and police members would take tough measures against members of the rebel group led by Hasan Tiro. He said the group had attacked law enforcers, damaged state and public facilities and attempted to disrupt next Monday's polls in the province.

Wiranto was insistent that no single area of Indonesia had the right to release itself from the republic, as the nation was committed to remaining united.

Meanwhile, combat troops from the North Sumatra capital of Medan arrived in Lhokseumawe on Tuesday evening to help restore order and security in the troubled regencies on the eve of the elections.

Maj. Gen. Affan Gaffar, chief of the Bukit Barisan Military Command overseeing security in Aceh and North Sumatra, told The Jakarta Post the military would continue to send more soldiers to Aceh until calm returned to the troubled province.

"We will continue to crush the separatist movement in the province. We have lost many personnel over the last three months," he said by telephone from Padang, West Sumatra on Tuesday.

Last week, at least 15 security personnel, transmigrants and health workers were killed by rebels in two separate ambushes in West Aceh and Pidie regencies. (bsr/rms/46/47)