Military kills three GAM members in clash

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): At least three alleged members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group were shot dead while attempting to ambush an Indonesian Military (TNI) convoy in the remote village of Uleerubek in North Aceh on Tuesday, a military source has said.

Chief of North Aceh Military Command Lt. Col. Suyatno confirmed the exchange of fire and said that one GAM member managed to escape.

Suyatno identified the three alleged rebels as Idris Abubakar, 30, Nasrudin, 20 and Hermansyah, 26.

A GAM spokesman, Abu Said Anan, confirmed the attack and fatalities on his side. Abu identified the three as Hamdani Juned, Idris and Razali.

According to Suyatno, a number of TNI soldiers were searching for a colleague who was reportedly missing in the Seunuddon subdistrict, some 50 kilometers east of Lhokseumawe, capital of North Aceh's regency.

"On the way home, four GAM members on two motorcycles intercepted and attacked the TNI convoy," Suyatno told reporters.

In a separate interview with journalists, another GAM member Ismail Syahputra, denied Suyatno's announcement, saying that the four GAM members fled unscathed.

They were on the way to their parents' homes and were attacked by TNI, Ismail said.

Open clashes between TNI soldiers and GAM members are rare in the restive province. Most of the shootings have been between the National Police's Mobile Brigade and separatist groups.

At least 44 security personnel, 18 of whom were Mobile Brigade members, have been killed in Aceh this year. (50/sur)