Banda Aceh tightens security after blasts

Banda Aceh tightens security after blasts

Nani Farida and A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh/Lhokseumawe

Following Monday's bomb blasts in Aceh's provincial capital Banda
Aceh, authorities said they would tighten security in the city,
as terrorist acts mark a new threat in the war against the Free
Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels.

Five bomb threats were reported in Banda Aceh over the past
two days. Two of the bombs exploded and injured four civilians,
in a rare terrorist strike police said was led by the rebels.

The blasts have shattered Banda Aceh's image as a safe haven
from rebel' activity and underlined the difficulties in
separating them from the rest of the population.

"We will tightened security measures in Banda Aceh and
surrounding areas by conducting raids," said Aceh National Police
spokesman Sr. Comr. Sayed Hoesainy on Tuesday.

He said police would drop personnel at places which had so far
been left unprotected. "GAM members can put on civilian clothes
and place bombs anywhere. This is what we are watching out for,"
he said.

Monday's bomb attacks delivered a wake up call to the city's
residents who previously thought that the war raged only in
remote villages in GAM-controlled areas.

Sayed said that GAM exploded the bombs to let people know that
they were in town.

Rosmaini, 50, said she could have died had she not seen a
suspicious package next to her car on Tuesday. She said she and
her husband reported their finding to a security officer who told
her that the package contained a homemade bomb.

Another homemade bomb was found at Zainal Abidin General
Hospital, stirring panic among the patients.

"We are afraid of going out, especially to crowded places,"
said Yuni a student from Syiah Kuala University as she passed by
the Pasar Aceh traditional market where one of the bombs
exploded. Another homemade bomb went off at Kampung Baru market,
injuring four people.

Aceh martial law administrator Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarya said
the military would intensify patrols and intelligence operations
to hunt down the rebels.

According to him, the bomb blasts occurred because "certain
groups" were protecting the rebels in the city.

"With such protection, GAM members can easily move around
Aceh, including Banda Aceh," he told reporters.

The military has evacuated thousands of people from their
homes in GAM controlled areas in its effort to separate the
rebels from the civilians.

All Acehnese citizens must obtain new ID cards in a move that
authorities claim will help them identify GAM rebels during
raids. Civil servants must also undergo a loyalty test in another
program to separate the rebels from the general populace.