Photo A/B: Aceh

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.