Situation in Aceh tense following arson attack

JAKARTA (JP): The military checked all motorists using the Banda Aceh-Medan highway on Sunday following the burning of a number of vehicles in the area on Saturday.

A journalist in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, said no one was arrested, but residents were gripped with fear.

"They are still traumatized," he said, referring to past military operations in the province.

The operations ended last year after former president Soeharto stepped down, but sporadic violence has continued, after which "sweeping", or resident checking, was conducted.

The journalist said the local Army commander, Col. Nurdin Usman, was on site during the "sweeping".

Though the situation was tense on Sunday, the highway is an inevitable route for residents, including homeward bound workers from vital gas and oil projects, said the journalist, who requested anonymity.

"Threats (to the press) are usual here," he said.

Heavier traffic is expected on Monday, when the new school term starts.

Three trucks and one bus were set on fire by an unidentified armed group early on Saturday on the Banda Aceh-Medan highway in Pidie and North Aceh.

No victims were reported in the vehicle burnings, Antara reported Sunday.

Witnesses said the armed group forced all passengers to get down but all their belongings went up in flames.

The news agency reported the burning of vehicles in North Aceh took place in the early hours of Saturday up to 4 a.m. while the bus was burned in broad daylight in Glumpang Tiga district, Pidie.

Earlier incidences of arson against public vehicles were done in the dark.

A driver at one of the sites was quoted as saying on Saturday: "We did not see a single security personnel member at the time of the incident."

So far, six buses, including those on the weekend, have been set on fire, mainly on the Banda Aceh-Medan route, Antara said.

The bus, owned by PT Aceh Tengah, was traveling from Takengon to Banda Aceh through Dayah Tanoh village, Pidie, 132 kilometers east of Banda Aceh, while one of the trucks was burned in Bukit Batee Geulungku, 70 kilometers west of Lhokseumawe.

No motives have been found for the weekend burnings; they join a growing list of arson attacks against civilian properties such as schools.

North Aceh police confirmed the incidents involving the four vehicles.

The military has also reported attacks on soldiers, the most recent of which occurred last week, in which two low ranking soldiers were shot in front of a crowd at a market in Bireun, North Aceh.

The Land Transportation Owners Association's provincial chapter's head, Kamaruddin THB, said trucks and buses have avoided nighttime travel for the past two months.

As a result buses are packed during the daytime.

From Banda Aceh, Antara quoted data from a non-government agency recording 8,107 cases of rights abuses since 1989 to July this year.

According to an Aceh Forum for Human Rights executive, Syaifuddin Bantasyam, these have resulted in 1,457 deaths.

He told a media conference on Saturday that 376 of the cases occurred after the government ended its military operations in Aceh, aimed at quelling separatists.

In the past four months, he said, 136 have died, 240 were injured and three -- all from the military -- have survived various incidence of violence.

Of the dead, he said 32 were military members and among the injured there were 26 from the military.

FP-HAM also recorded 83 arrests by security personnel, of which only three have been released. There were 33 "kidnapped" people whose fate is unknown, he added.

The Forum also reported that in the four months, 22 district offices, 112 schools, 10 public vehicles, 272 homes, 13 kiosks and one restaurant, were set on fire.

Also on Saturday a fire hit 22 of 30 rooms at Hotel Meutia, North Aceh, which the management attributed to a short circuit. (anr)