One soldier dies in latest Aceh violence
JAKARTA (JP): A soldier was killed by Keudu Karieng villagers early Sunday morning in the Meurah Mulia district of North Aceh, shortly after the visit of outgoing chief of the Armed Forces (ABRI) General Affairs Lt. Gen. Fachrul Razi on Saturday.
Soldiers recovered the body of First Sgt. Burhanuddin on Sunday, near the village in the Meurah Mulia district, during a search prompted by report that he had been killed, according to Lilawangsa military commander Col. Johnny Wahab.
"It's tragic and saddening," Johnny told The Jakarta Post.
From North Aceh's capital of Lhokseumawe, D&R reported that the beating took place until 3 a.m..
Burhanuddin, 38 -- survived by a wife and four children -- was a member of a military unit in the district.
According to Johnny, Burhanuddin was visiting his parents in the village, 30 kilometers north of Lhokseumawe, when a group of locals he reportedly knew asked for his help to resolve a fight among some villagers.
Burhanuddin arrived on a bicycle at 5:30 p.m. and found many people waiting for him, Johnny said. The ill-fated sergeant was taken away by the villagers and later beaten to death in the early hours of Sunday, he said.
At around 5 a.m., his body was taken by two men, identified as Muchtar and Alamsyah, to a village mosque, but a cleric there turned them away and criticized them for bringing the body, he said.
They then took the body from the mosque and dumped it where it was later found by soldiers, according to Johnny. The two men are being questioned by police, he said.
Johnny also said that on Saturday, another violent incident broke out in a village in East Aceh's Pidie regency, where a mob torched two houses in Bandar Dua district belonging to two suspected informants, locally known as cuak, identified as Sulaiman and Mahdi.
The two were beaten and are now being treated at the Sigli general hospital.
Meanwhile, the situation in Meurah Mulia was still tense on Sunday as hundreds of soldiers blocked the way to the subdistrict, according to rights activist Yakob Hamzah of the Iskandar Muda Legal Aid office in Lhokseumawe.
"A local villager came to our office this morning (Sunday) to complain of the presence of soldiers in their village. The soldiers are picketing their houses and shops, scaring villagers from leaving," Yacob told the Post.
Yacob was quick to condemn the killing of the above soldier but said it needed to be observed from a wider perspective. "It all started from various incidents n the past. We need both cultural and legal solutions," Yacob said.
Aceh has seen prolonged tension following the lifting of the military operations here.
The military said seven off-duty soldiers were killed on their way home for New Year holidays and two others abducted. The subsequent raid on villages said to hide a separatist leader responsible for the attacks and abduction of the soldiers ended in the death of 17 civilians. An attack by soldiers on villagers being detained ended in four detainees dead, for which the soldiers are being tried. (aan)