Officers killed in Aceh crash

Officers killed in Aceh crash

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

Eight Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers, including a lieutenant
colonel, were killed on Tuesday after their helicopter crashed in
a mountainous area between Central Aceh and Biereun regencies.

A TNI spokesman in Aceh, Lt. Col. Asep Sapari, blamed bad
weather for the accident at around 1 p.m. and called it a
"tragedy".

But, Darwis Jeunib, the commander of rebel Free Aceh Movement
(GAM) group overseeing Biereun regency, claimed through a short
messaging service (SMS) circulated to journalists that the
helicopter was shot down by his guerrilla fighters.

The crash occurred almost exactly a year after another
helicopter mishap on Oct. 5 last year in the ocean off the coast
of Lhokseumawe city in North Aceh regency. That too was said to
be an accident and claimed the lives of eight TNI soldiers, all
from the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus).

Five of the eight TNI personnel on board the ill-fated Bell
205 were middle-ranking TNI officers, while the remaining three
were believed to be the crew of the ill-fated chopper, said Asep.

The chief of the Aceh Besar regency military command Lt. Col.
Joko Warsito confirmed on Tuesday evening that one of the eight
TNI personnel was chief of the Badak Putih army battalion
stationed in Aceh Besar regency, Lt. Col. Suparman.

The remaining seven victims were identified as pilot Maj. Heri
Irianto, co-pilot Second Lt. M. Kusworo, and two technicians --
Second Sgt. Sulaiman and Second Sgt. Yarsu -- Maj. Yadi, Second
Lt. Yuda and First Pvt. Irawan.

Late on Tuesday, military personnel managed to get to the
crash site to recover the bodies which were later taken to Banda
Aceh.

Clashes between the military and GAM take place almost daily,
but the intensity is said to be lighter compared to last year,
when the government declared martial law in the province,
followed by major military operations.

The government slightly downgraded the martial law status in
May this year and the province is now under a state of civil
emergency.