More school burning in Aceh Besar regency
More school burning in Aceh Besar regency
JAKARTA (JP): Another attempt to torch a school building has
been reported in Aceh Besar regency, where a state high school
was targeted early on Saturday.
Antara reported on Monday from Banda Aceh that the attempt to
set fire to the State High School (SMU) I in Krueng Raya had only
damaged part of the principal's office.
Police chief Lt. Col. Deddy Suryadi said the arson attack was
committed by four unidentified people.
Deddy said the attacks that damaged dozens of schools in East
and North Aceh, Pidie, South Aceh and West Aceh, were "similar to
that targeting the SMU I in Krueng Raya".
The attempt on Saturday was foiled by the school security
guard, he said.
"The four men vanished into the night after they tried to
light a fire in the principal's room," Deddy said. The security
guard caught them in action and they fled, after which he put out
the fire assisted by his wife, Deddy said.
Losses at SMU I were estimated at Rp 500 million. Continued
coordination with the Ministry of Education and Culture and the
provincial administration was being conducted to prevent further
incidents, Deddy said.
In Jakarta, the military headquarters reported that armed
rebels in Aceh were "continuing to terrorize residents" causing
them to flee their villages, while rights activists have said it
is military operations which have scared villagers out of their
homes.
A statement from the headquarters said rebels set fire to a
minivan on Saturday in Laweung district, Pidie.
Separately in Semarang, Central Java, protests continued on
Monday over the violence in Aceh.
About 300 youths of the Surakarta Muslim Youth Front demanded
that the military and police prevent violence and that past
alleged rights abuse during the 10-year military operation be
settled through the courts.
They also demanded investigations into killings victimizing
Muslims in ethnic and religious violence in the past year, among
other places in Maluku, West Kalimantan and East Java.(anr)