One soldier dies in latest Aceh violence

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)