Fourteen killed in Aceh as war continues to rage
Fourteen killed in Aceh as war continues to rage
Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh
Fourteen more people, including a police officer and two unidentified people, were killed in the military operation in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD), police and the military sources said on Monday.
NAD Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Sayed Hussainy said here on Monday that Brig. Sugiono and three rebels were killed in a fierce gunfight in Kajeung Sungai Mas village, South Aceh regency on Sunday.
Another policeman who was seriously injured in the clash, had to be rushed to Medan, North Sumatra for medical treatment, he added.
Military operation spokesman Lt. Col. Ahmad Yani Basuki said in Lhokseumawe that the Indonesian Military (TNI) shot dead one rebel and seized a rifle and a grenade launcher in Tiro, Pidie regency, on Monday.
The soldiers, who are fighting members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), also killed four rebels in Leupung district, Aceh Besar on Sunday.
Capt. Pedro Soares said he deployed some units to the district after receiving information from villagers on the presence of several rebels on the slopes of a mountain in the district.
"Villagers told us there were five or six rebels up on Mount Lamteh. We searched for three days before the clash," Pedro told The Jakarta Post.
The TNI said it had confiscated an assault rifle, ammunition, GAM flags and communication equipment.
Villagers later recovered the bodies and said three of the four were residents of Leupung and the other could not be unidentified.
"Yes, they lived here, and they are members of GAM's military wing," avowed Muhammad, a resident of Leupung.
Also on Sunday, troops killed a suspected rebel during a raid on an apparent hideout in the bordering district of Selimun.
Meanwhile, villagers in Kejuruan Muda village, East Aceh district, recovered two unidentified bodies.
In a related development, the Ministry of Health announced on Monday it had recorded a total of 688 fatalities so far since the martial law was declared in May.
The military says it has killed 875 rebels and injured more than 1,100 while arresting more than 1,800 others. Its official figures for government casualties is currently 47 soldiers and 15 police personnel.
NAD police have said that at least 319 civilians have been killed since May 19 and 108 have disappeared. They did not say which side was responsible for the civilian deaths.
The military has called on the government to extend martial law for another six months to allow it to remain in force in the territory, ostensibly to root out all the remnants of the separatist movement as well as to "create a feeling of safety among the people".
The government has spent at least Rp 1.3 trillion to finance the military operation so far.