Photo A/B: Aceh

JP/Muharram M. Nur Reuters/Beawiharta

INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION: A group of school girls in Islamic outfit (above) walk past Banda Aceh Grand Mosque on their way to an open field for a ceremony to mark the 56th anniversary of Indonesia's Independence Day. Hundreds of students from various schools flocked to the Blang Padang park in the capital of the troubled province to join the flag-raising ceremony on Friday. Members of the elite police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) (left) patrol a major highway linking Banda Aceh and Medan (capital of North Sumatra province). Separatist rebels have been blocking roads with trees, small huts and boulders to prevent people from traveling to towns to celebrate the Independence Day.