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)