Over 1,000 schools in Aceh burned

BANDA ACEH, Aceh: Over 1,000 school buildings have been burned by irresponsible people in the past few years, a senior official at Aceh provincial administration said on Thursday.

Aceh Deputy Governor Azwar Abubakar said that the government had already started renovating a certain numbers of schools, and the renovation was expected to be completed in the next few years. The most extensive arson attacks on schools were carried out in the troubled province of Aceh on May 18 last year, only a day before the Indonesian Military (TNI) began a massive military operation against the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Aceh. -- Antara