Marines injured in Aceh attack

By Ati Nurbaiti

LHOKSEUMAWE, North Aceh (JP): The commemoration of Independence Day here was marred by violence with at least seven marines injured on Tuesday in an early morning attack by unidentified people.

Four of the injured marines were in critical condition due to wounds caused by "shrapnel from a grenade launcher", according to the military.

Meanwhile, no civil servants turned up on Tuesday for the Independence Day ceremony at Hira Square in front of the local legislature, leaving the band to play only to a field of military and police officers.

Civilians were reportedly excused as no public transportation was available, and national flags around town were the only sign of celebrations. The North Aceh capital, which hosts the PT Arun gas plant, two fertilizer companies and PT Kertas Kraft Aceh, was a ghost town.

Police continuously patrolled the city, ordering residents to return red and white flags to the street after they were taken down.

A hotel employee said on Monday that residents in his home district of Kuta Karang were busy removing flags on Sunday following orders from men on motorcycles, who ripped up one flag. They then returned the flags on orders from passing policemen.

Lilawangsa Military Commander Col. Syafnil Armen said on Tuesday the marines were attacked at about 2 a.m. at their post in Jeunieb district. He confirmed that seven were injured and four were now in critical condition.

Spokesman Second Lt. Edy Haryanto could not say how many attackers were involved or what they were wearing. No one was captured, he said.

A number of crimes here have involved armed men in military fatigues, which security personnel say is easy to buy.

North Aceh Police chief Col. Syafei Aksal confirmed a fire hitting 39 houses and shops in Syamtalira Bayu district was arson and that no one was injured or arrested.

Waspada daily quoted him as saying that unidentified people set the fire at about 3:30 a.m. on Monday, approaching the area on a pick-up and motorcycle. A fire engine came after the local health center agreed to let an ambulance accompany the vehicle, but by then 23 shop-houses and 16 stalls were destroyed.

The fire added to fear here. Four vehicles were set on fire and a large tree was deliberately felled on the border of Pidie and North Aceh on Saturday, blocking traffic from Banda Aceh to Medan.

Circulars claiming to be from the separatist Free Aceh Movement called for a general strike from Aug. 13 to Aug. 20. The Serambi Indonesia daily has not been able to reach readers here since the weekend.

Houses leading to the site of the fire on Sunday were empty. Some houses had doors painted with large blue crosses and others with red crosses. Blue crosses were said to be warnings for inhabitants to leave their homes and red was a sign that warnings were ignored and their homes would be burned, residents said.

The military and police in Aceh said most refugees were forced to leave following such intimidation. A number of refugees interviewed said they were avoiding the security personnel entering their villages.

While thousands of refugees in North Aceh have returned home, thousands more are still in shelters, mainly in Pidie regency.

A foreign journalist said on Monday in several refugee camps, including one near the Pidie capital of Sigli, people wore tee shirts emblazoned with Aceh Sumatra National Liberation (ASNL) and hoisted Free Aceh flags while police only watched.

Separately, North Aceh Military Commander Lt. Col. Suyatno denied knowing two civilians were reportedly detained since Aug. 9 at a military post in Kuta Makmur district in relation to earlier reports of seven people killed there.

A civilian, identifying himself as MY, told lawyer M. Yacob Hamzah on Sunday that he was released on Saturday from the Punjawa post where he was held since Aug. 9, and that two others were still being detained.

His account contradicted an earlier one from a survivor who said seven people were thrown into a hole and shot.

"Only one, a man named M. Daud, died," MY said. He said M. Daud, 65, who died after being thrown into the hole, was first beaten with sticks and a piece of iron.

The group of villagers were looking for durian, he said.

MY said he was also beaten at the post, and was released for lack of evidence related to charges that he was a Free Aceh Movement member.

A lawyer from Iskandar Muda legal aid office planned a proper burial on Sunday for the reported seven victims but it was canceled as a witness said he did not dare show the grave site to Yacob and journalists.