Four GAM members killed in two separate shoot-outs
BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): Security authorities in the restive province of Aceh shot dead on Sunday four suspected separatist rebels to further cast a shadow over the recently extended truce.
Chief of the Pidie Police Precinct Supt. Endang Emiqail Bagus said three of the four men, believed to be members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), were killed while attempting to ambush a truckload of police patrolling Keumangan village in Mutiara district.
The other suspect was gunned down while planting a bomb on the main street of Pangwa village, Meureudu district on the same day, according to Endang.
"We seized three rifles from them," Endang stated on Sunday.
He said hundreds of soldiers and police officers were deployed to Keumangan village following the attempted attack.
GAM spokesman in Pidie regency, Abu Razak, confirmed the clash, but said the armed rebels opened fire in self-defense after the joint military and police patrol raided their headquarters.
"Because we were cornered we had to resist the attack. Don't blame us if we take revenge," Abu said.
He did not comment on the casualties on his side.
Abu said the man killed in Pangwa village was a civilian and that he was not engaged in planting a bomb.
Pidie was paralyzed on Sunday, with residents preferring to stay at home. Streets were deserted and markets were closed.
Residents were conducting a fast on the day in compliance with a call from GAM leader Tengku Abdullah Syafiie.
Some 2,000 Keumangan villagers sought refuge to mosques on Monday after their four neighbors were arrested by the security authorities following the overnight fire exchange.
Sunday's other armed clash erupted in Rambong village in South Aceh when alleged separatist rebels ambushed a convoy which included local military commander Lt. Col. Purwanto, who was heading for Blang Pidie from Tapak Tuan district.
Purwanto said that a soldier injured his back during the skirmish.
At least 75 people -- 65 civilians, eight police officers and two soldiers -- have been killed in Aceh since the truce took effect on June 2.
In a related development, a lawyer for the GAM commander in the South Aceh area of Singkil, M.S. Bin Sulaiman alias Tengku Diladang, 36, and his follower identified only as Isl bin Ishak, 34, said the two defendants would be transported by a helicopter from the South Aceh prosecutor's detention center to Pematang Siantar district court in North Sumatra, where they will go on trial on Thursday.
Lawyer Maya Manurung told Antara that the trial had been moved to Aceh's neighboring province of North Sumatra due to security concerns.
The defendants would be charged with murdering several residents of the Bukit Hasang transmigration area in Simpang Kanan recently. The charges carry the death sentence. (50/lup)