Aceh violence kills 74 within 10 months
Aceh violence kills 74 within 10 months
BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): The campaign of violence perpetrated by
the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels over the past 10
months has claimed 74 lives, police said here on Monday.
Aceh Police inspector Sr. Supt. H.M. Ramli Irsyad said the
fatalities included eight military soldiers and 11 police
personnel.
The figure excluded nine people who were killed or found dead
in three separate locations in East Aceh on Sunday.
Ramli said at least 127 people, including 46 military soldiers
and 57 police officers, were injured during the same period, in
which the Aceh Police, backed by the military, launched an anti-
rebel special operation code named Cinta Meunasah.
He said GAM had intensified their campaign of terror, by
conducting a series of bomb and arson attacks on local government
and police facilities, despite the implementation of the
humanitarian pause which is aimed at reducing violence.
"The separatist rebels have also intimidated local residents
by opening fire and abducting both residents and security
officers," Ramli said.
He urged the security authorities to uphold the supremacy of
the law, especially as Aceh braces for the first anniversary
celebration of the referendum demand on Nov. 8 and GAM's 24th
anniversary on Dec. 4. Ramli predicted that GAM would intensify
its activities ahead of the two events.
"I urge local police officers to take stern but lawful actions
against the separatist movement," he said.
Security authorities in East Aceh said the latest violence in
the regency on Sunday killed eight people and injured a soldier.
East Aceh Military Command Lt. Col. Denny K. Irawan said two
GAM members were killed in Alue Punti village, Bayeun district,
near the place where local residents discovered the body of a
police officer, First Sgt. Ramli, who had been missing since Oct.
9. The body was half burned when it was found.
On Sunday evening, a gunfight between GAM members and a joint
military and police force erupted in the neighboring village of
Simpang Nenas. It left four GAM members killed and one military
officer injured.
Deputy chief of the Cinta Meunasah operation Supt. Yatim
Suyatmo confirmed on Monday that four GAM members died, while two
others managed to escape.
In a separate incident, Zulkarnaini from the Anti Violence
Student Forum (FOMATAK), said two residents were found dead on
Sunday after being arrested by police in Bantayan village,
Simpang Ulin district, for allegedly helping GAM.
"The two were abandoned in the street and only one of them was
known as a GAM member," he said.
East Aceh's GAM spokesman Abu Kalifah confirmed on Sunday that
one of the two was a movement member but stressed that he was
unarmed when arrested by the police.
Separately, East Aceh police chief Supt. Abdullah Hayati gave
a different account, saying that the two alleged GAM members were
shot dead in a gunfight after they attacked patrolling security
personnel. (50/lup)