Riot troops arrive in troubled Aceh
JAKARTA (JP): A battalion of riot troops arrived in Aceh on Friday afternoon when reports said the death toll from Monday's military shooting in the troubled province rose to 40.
"A battalion of Mobile Brigade personnel has just arrived here and they will be officially greeted in a ceremony in the local military headquarters later in the evening," Lilawangsa Regional Military Headquarters Col. Johnny Wahab told The Jakarta Post by phone from the North Aceh capital of Lhokseumawe on Friday.
"They will be directly deployed to five locations in and around Lhokseumawe," he added.
A member of a local fact-finding team said on Friday the death toll from the military shootings in Krueng Geukueh, some 15 kilometers west of Lhokseumawe, rose to 40.
"The last victim to die was Murtala bin Cut, 42, from Seumirah village. He was shot dead on Monday, and his body was claimed by family and buried in the village," Basri A. Gani, deputy coordinator of the North Aceh government's fact-finding team told the Post.
Antara reported on Friday that some 3,000 people fled three villages in Dewantara sub-districts since Monday for fear of further violence.
The Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto decided to dispatch a battalion of 450 riot troops to Aceh to restore law and order there.
The reinforcements, including a bomb squad, intelligence officers and military police, flew aboard four C-130 military planes that took off from the Halim Perdanakusuma air force base in East Jakarta earlier in the day.
Wiranto said the riot troops were expected to create a peaceful environment ahead of the June 7 elections.
He quickly said on Thursday the move was not intended to revive DOM in Aceh, referring to a notorious decade of military operations to quell separatist movements in the province which was only halted last August.
Human rights activists said that military committed widespread human rights abuses during the military operations. Wiranto apologized in August for the military's conduct in the province which he said "had exceeded acceptable norms".
Troops, however, resumed operations since late last year after an escalation of the alleged separatist activity and violence.
Monday's shootings were the latest in a series of violence prompted by clashes between military and pro-referendum supporters in the troubled province.
Military said the protesting crowd opened fire first on Monday and troops returned fire in self-defense.
Human rights groups, however, said that troops opened fire after the protesters began pelting stones at them.
Rights groups also said the crowd was protesting against the violence during military sweeps in nearby Cot Murong village last Saturday to search for fellow soldiers who were allegedly abducted by separatist members.
Protests against the violence continued on Friday and some parties have been calling for Wiranto to resign over his failure to halt human rights abuses in the country.
British Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Derek Fatchett also expressed concern over the violence.
"I was deeply disturbed by reports of an incident in Aceh in which many unarmed civilians, including women and children, were killed or injured," Fatchett said in a press statement on Friday.
He said the government must conduct a thorough investigation into the incident to bring in to account those responsible and take all possible steps to ensure that military personnel acts with restraint and respect for human rights. (byg/har/nur)