School headmaster killed in Aceh

BANDA ACEH: An Aceh woman, also headmaster of an elementary school in Matang Cot Village in North Aceh, was killed by unidentified gunman on Monday, says a social worker.

Ali Rasyid, a staff of the Indonesian red Cross in Bireuen said on Saturday that according to sources in the village, 58- year-old Maryam Hasan was shot at 20:30 local time when she was opening her house's door to the gunman.

Hearing the firing's sound, Maryam's neighbors hide in their own house and came out only after the sniper went away. The victim was found dead with two firing injuries on her stomach.

Ali also said 23-year-old Muhammad's body was also floating on a river in Kuala Cangkoi last Thursday and then evacuated to the nearby public health center.

Snipers have been at large in rural areas following the mounting tension between security authorities and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) over the last three months. --JP