More troops depart for Aceh

More troops depart for Aceh

BANDUNG (JP): The first batch of troops from the Rajawali
(Hawk) II Team, especially trained for counterinsurgency
operations in Aceh, were flown out on Army Hercules transport
planes to the restive province from Bandung's Husein Sastranegara
airport on Sunday.

The departure of around 416 personnel was witnessed by Army
General Affairs chief Lt. Gen. Djamari Chaniago.

Director of the Military Education and Training Command Brig.
Gen. Zamroni, who has been overseeing the training of a total of
1,100 combat troops, said the remaining troops who had been
trained here for missions in Aceh would depart for the province
on Monday and Wednesday.

On Friday, Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Adm. Widodo
Adisucipto inspected the readiness of the troops, who have been
specifically prepared to be pitted against the separatist rebels
of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

The troops were trained at the Army's Special Forces
(Kopassus) Training Center in Batujajar, West Java.

"The troops are only allowed to capture GAM members and then
hand them to the police for the law to take its course," Zamroni
told reporters.

The troops were trained for two months and selected from the
Army's Strategic Reserves Command's (Kostrad) second division in
Malang as well as the Siliwangi Military Command and Jakarta
Military Command.

Some were also recruited from among Central Java's Diponegoro
Military Command's crack troops, the Banteng (wild bull) Raiders,
the Air Force's Paskhas special forces, the Navy's marines and
the military police.

In Aceh, the troops are to be deployed in the four critical
regencies of North Aceh, East Aceh, Bireun and Pidie.

The planned deployment has elicited a strong reaction from the
rebels who have stated that they would intensify their military
campaign against the soldiers. (25/emf)