Tank attack kills woman, grandson
Ibnu Mat Noor and Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers used an amphibious tank in response to an ambush by Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels on Sunday, killing a woman and her grandson.
Witnesses said the tank opened fire on a residential area in Gampong Lhueng Tuha village, Jambo Aye district, North Aceh, as soldiers counterattacked against GAM rebels.
They said the tank attack leveled one of the houses, leaving Saidah Usman, 70, and seven-month-old Zulfikar Wahab dead, and his parents Wahab Kasem, 30, and Nurmalawati, 20, seriously wounded.
Troops were moving in a convoy consisting of trucks, an armored car and a tank when a group of GAM rebels ambushed them in the neighboring village of Matang Serdang at around 1 p.m. local time.
GAM spokesman Teuku Jamaika confirmed the ambush and the following TNI attack on civilians.
"They opened fire in all directions, including at the houses of local residents," Jamaika said.
Iskandar Muda Military Command spokesman Lt. Col. Firdaus refused to comment on the tank attack, pending accurate information on the incident. "We are crosschecking the reports. There is no information on the incident as yet," he said,
The incident came a day after dozens of protesters in the Aceh capital of Banda Aceh marked the 57th anniversary celebration of TNI with a rally to call for peace in the restive province.
The people, grouped under the Association of Anti-Military Activists (Hantam) urged both the military and GAM to immediately stop violence.
"Civilians always fall victim to conflicts between TNI and GAM," one of the protesters said, citing an example of the attack on a Mobile Brigade police officer in North Aceh a few weeks ago that resulted in a fire that destroyed the shops, homes and assets of 84 families.
"More and more violence is flaring up everyday at the expense of universal human rights principles," said Asmara Diah Saputra. the secretary of Hantam.
Violence has continued to plague Aceh although both the government and GAM have agreed to sit down for peace talks in Geneva this month.
In the latest gunfight on Friday, two alleged GAM members and a Brigade Mobile Police soldier were killed following a raid on a rebel camp at the foot of Mount Air Pinang, some 500 kilometers southeast of Banda Aceh.
The protesters asked both the warring forces to withdraw their troops, put down arms for a dialog and agree on an independent monitoring commission with the power and authority to ensure that a cease-fire is maintained. They insisted that the commission involve a foreign third party.
During the rally, the activists displayed banners and carried mock victims. Hundreds of Syiah Kuala University students planned to join the rally but to no avail due to a police roadblock, in itself a human rights violation according to UN charter.
Confirming Friday's pitched battle, South Aceh Military commander Lt. Col. Agus Permana said on Saturday that the military's Infantry Battalion 305 Kujang gunned down suspected GAM members Doyok, 24, and Donal, 25, who had been hiding in the jungle.
"Based on reports, those two often kidnapped and extorted people," Agus claimed.
A GAM spokesperson Tjut Manyak said that his compatriots had killed Udin, a Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officer on Wednesday.
He also condemned the military for once again seeking revenge by victimizing civilians, in an arson attack which razed 28 shops and injured dozens of innocent civilians.
"They should have vented their outrage by chasing us (GAM soldiers), not by hurting innocent people," Tjut Manyak said.
The Banda Aceh Police spokesman Maj. Taufiq Sutiono said that the Udin, a member of Brimob's Jakarta Squadron, was shot six times in the back of the head. The GAM operatives shot him while he was eating at a foodstall in Geureugok market, North Aceh.
Sutiono, however, denied any police involvement in the arson attack and accused GAM of deliberately burning their own people's shops and homes as a way to tarnish the police's good image.