Six rebels nabbed after fatal shooting of officers
Six rebels nabbed after fatal shooting of officers
SIGLI, Aceh (JP): Tens of thousands of refugees sheltering at
the Abu Beureueh mosque here were shocked when a joint group of
the Police elite Mobile Brigade force and the Gegana bomb squad
raided the site on Tuesday afternoon.
Scores of females reportedly fainted after the armed officers
fired their guns in different directions, leaving the refugees in
panic.
No one was reportedly shot, but at least six men, believed by
officers to be members of the armed wing of the Free Aceh
Movement (AGAM), were apprehended.
Six other people were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
The attack started at about 3:30 p.m. when the security forces
surrounded the mosque and opened fire, driving the refugees,
mostly women and children, to scatter and hide in fear.
Some of the terrified people ran to a student support post in
front of the mosque. Many of them were forced to strip their
shirts off and show their identification cards.
Pidie Police chief Lt. Col. Endang Emiqail Bagus on Wednesday
confirmed the incident took place, saying that the raid "is
closely related to the fatal shooting of two police officers
earlier in the day".
"These six people are not refugees," Endang said.
He suspected that the six were the AGAM members that killed
the two officers, First Sgt. Arinda Jayaputra and First Sgt.
Simon Lazarus Hasibuan, both from Tiro subdistrict, in an early
morning attack in an area about four kilometers from the mosque.
After the attack, the six then hid themselves among the
refugees at the mosque.
Officer Endang identified the alleged rebels as Hasbi M.
Yusuf, M. Nur Usman, Sulaiman B., T. Taufik, Ridwan and Muzakir
Yunus.
Some of the suspected rebels have already admitted their
status as AGAM personnel and some of them have lived abroad for
quite sometime, the officer said.
"We're still investigating the case," Endang said.
Coordinator of the Beureuneun's student post near the mosque
Said Rezal Pahlevi expressed concern over the incident, saying
that the raid has caused deep psychological wounds among the
refugees.
The refugees had temporarily chosen the mosque as their
shelter having regularly faced intimidation, particularly at the
hands of the military, in their respective villages.
"It's very sad to see innocent people being kicked around and
being told to stay on the ground with guns pointed at their
heads," Said said.
Many women and children cried fearfully during the raid, Said
noted, adding that raids like this, which had traumatized the
Acehnese people, had been occurring for quite sometime.
Police, however, insisted that the operation took place
outside the mosque.
"We opened fire only to shock the people in order to handle
the situation properly," Endang insisted.
The continuous outbreaks of violence in Aceh have claimed
thousands of lives and left many others injured, mostly because
of military actions.
According to the latest government data, 1,021 people have
been killed, 864 are listed as missing, 1,376 have been widowed
and thousands of houses have been burnt down in the last 10
years. Military operations in the area were suspended in August
last year. (51/edt)