At least 21 Acehnese shot dead in military operation

At least 21 Acehnese shot dead in military operation

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): At least 21 people were shot dead on
Saturday during a joint military-police operation at a village in
Aceh Timur.

Aceh law and order security spokesman Comr. Sudharsono claimed
that the victims were members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and
that the village on the outskirts of Peureulak regency was
believed to be one of the group's base camps.

However GAM spokesman Amri Abdul Wahab told reporters that
only one of the victims, identified as Syeh Yatim, was a member
of the group. He claimed that the other 20 were civilians.

Witnesses said that two trucks loaded with security personnel
raided the small village at 5 a.m. on Saturday and forced their
way to Yatim's house.

The troops, they claimed, sprayed bullets at other residents
who were trying to flee.

A total of 21 died and their bodies were taken to a nearby
public health center in the regency.

In another raid on Panton Labu village in Jambo Aye regency,
Aceh Utara, 15-year-old Muslim Jafar was also reportedly shot
dead by the joint security force.

A resident, who asked not to be named, told journalists that
troops were searching for Jafar's father, who was believed to be
a GAM member, at the family's residence.

Jafar was the only one home at the time.

The police have denied these claims.

Sudharsono also announced that five out of six negotiators
from GAM were declared subversion suspects.

The six had been detained on Friday on suspicions of
subversion after attending peace talks with government
representatives.

He identified the suspects as Teungku Nashiruddin bin Ahmad,
Amni bin Marzuki, Amdi bin Hamdani, T. Kamaruzzaman and T.
Muhammad. The suspects are all GAM members.

The police released Nasrullah Dahlawi because he was a member
of a neutral monitoring team recruited by GAM to help in dialogs
aimed at solving problems in the conflict-torn province. (50/bby)