Nine more killed in Aceh PRIORITAS

BANDA ACEH, Aceh: At least nine people, including one soldier, were killed in renewed gunfights between troops and rebels, local military and police officers said on Sunday.

Spokesman for Lhokseumawe military operations Maj. Zaenal Mutaqin said three rebels were shot dead in a clash with soldiers at Uleh Gle village in Idi Rayeuk subdistrict, East Aceh.

However, spokesman for the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) Ishak Daud claimed only one of its members, 40-year-old Abdurrahman Ibrahim, was killed in the incident.

Mutaqin said a similar fight erupted at Matangkuli village in North Aceh on Friday evening, killing at least two GAM members.

One military personnel was also killed when rebels attacked his house in Samalaya village, Bireuen regency later on Friday night, he added.

Meanwhile in Ujung Langgo village near Sigli in Pidie regency, local police said they had shot dead two suspected separatists trying to escape arrest. --JP