Casualties rise as offensive intensifies

Casualties rise as offensive intensifies

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Lhokseumawe

Casualties rose on Wednesday as the Indonesian Military (TNI)
mounted massive attacks on strongholds of the Free Aceh Movement
(GAM) in Bireuen, North Aceh, and Aceh Besar.

Senior army officers said soldiers killed nine rebels on the
third and bloodiest day of the assault, but separatists put the
death toll at 13, including 10 civilians. There was no
independent source to verify the claims.

In Bireuen, at least seven alleged members of GAM were killed
in shootouts with government troops sent in to put an end to
arson attacks on public schools in the regency.

Public transportation in the regency also came to a halt
following attacks by unidentified people on vehicles passing by
the main road connecting Banda Aceh and Medan in North Sumatra.

"It is too dangerous to go outside the house. We decided not
to go outside," Aisyah, a resident of Djuli village, Bireuen,
told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Government troops also clashed with rebels on Wednesday in
Teupin-Punti, Geudong district, where the rebels opened fire on a
vehicle belong to U.S. oil company ExxonMobil. No casualties were
reported.

In Pidie, GAM torched five vehicles at Bleumpang III district
along the highway between Banda Aceh and Medan, while in Aceh
Besar, Din Syehman, GAM commander for Cot Kreueng Darussalam in
Kuta Baro district and his bodyguard M. Isa were killed in a
gunfight with the military.

Also on Wednesday, military helicopters fired rockets at rebel
bases on two islands off Banda Aceh, but no information on
casualties was immediately available.

Meanwhile, martial law administrator Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarya
moved to censor the press, telling journalists covering the
operations to stop quoting GAM spokesmen.

"Journalists are free to report on the actions of security
personnel in the field. As long as it is correct, we will accept
it," he said.

"But there should be no reports from GAM and (no) reports that
praise GAM."

He also said that he was considering implementing a curfew in
Pidie and Bireuen.

Endang said authorities would arrest GAM supporters --
individuals or organizations -- as part of efforts to reduce
support for the movement.

Police on Tuesday arrested Cut Nur Asikin, an activist
campaigning for an independence referendum. They said she may
face charges of plotting against the state or violating
antiterrorism laws.

Endang had also ordered troops to shoot arsonists on sight
after unidentified men torched about 248 school buildings, mostly
in Biruen and Pidie regencies, after the military operation was
launched last Monday.

According to Endang, GAM rebels had burned a transmitter of
state-owned radio RRI in the district of Indrapuri, Aceh Besar,
late on Tuesday.

TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto briefed military officers
in Lhokseumawe after realizing that the separatist guerrillas had
discarded their combat attire and infiltrated the civilian
populace.

The four-star general acknowledged that the situation "would
make the military operations more difficult than had been
predicted".

In Jakarta, Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) chairman Mari'e
Muhammad said his office had distributed 10 tons of rice from the
World Food Program (WFP) as the military operation began in the
province.

"We also have hundreds of volunteers and sufficient medical
supplies to treat victims of the ongoing operation in the
province," he said.

Mari'e called on both the TNI and GAM to provide access and
guarantee the safety of volunteers while conducting their
humanitarian duties in the province.

"We expressed hope that both sides would respect the Geneva
convention that obligates the warring parties to guarantee the
safety of humanitarian workers and provide access while
performing their duties," he added.

Separately, Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare Jusuf
Kalla said that the government had difficulties in distributing
basic provisions for the Acehnese as many of the staple
foodstuffs must be delivered from Medan.

"We have enough rice in the province, around 45,000 tons, but
we may have difficulties in providing other basic needs, which
have to be delivered from Medan," he said.

The government, Jusuf said, was trying to find an appropriate
way to distribute the goods.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirajuda said on Wednesday
that the government had demanded that the Swedish government take
action on its Acehnese citizens who were responsible for
directing attacks in Indonesian cities.