Ten more killed in troubled Aceh

JAKARTA (JP): Troops shot dead at least nine suspected rebels in Aceh on Thursday during the second day of a mass strike protesting military violence in the troubled province, a local military commander and witnesses said.

Pidie Military Commander Lt. Col. Iskandar told The Jakarta Post by phone from Sigli that the nine were killed in a gunfight during a military operation in Cot Mamplam village, Kumala district, some 27 kilometers south of the town.

"About 50 security personnel launched the operation at 7:17 a.m. and it lasted about 45 minutes." He said that three suspected rebels managed to escape.

No security personnel were injured in the operation, he added.

Iskandar said troops were dispatched to Cot Mamplam on Wednesday following reports that rebels were hiding in the village.

Iskandar also said that a nearby district office was set on fire by the rebels early Thursday.

Troops confiscated three Russian made AK-47 automatic rifles and 197 bullets in the raid, he said.

The nine bodies were taken to Sigli General Hospital but only four were identified. According to identity cards on the bodies they were Abdullah Abidin, 29, M. Said Ramli, 31, Sulaiman Nurdin, 24, and Marzuki Sulaiman, 34.

In Trienggading, Pidie, a 75-year-old woman was shot dead at about 3 p.m., Iskandar said.

He said the shooting occurred when the victim, Aisyah, was part of a group of villagers which was about to leave for a nearby refugee camp.

Iskandar said the woman was shot by rebels who opened fire on a passing military truck transporting logistics, but locals maintained there were only soldiers in the vicinity.

The violence erupted as streets in the province's major towns remained deserted, shops and other businesses were closed and public transportation services halted in response to students and activists' call for a two-day mass strike.

"It is just like yesterday. Only the media and security personnel have been seen on the streets since this morning," Usman Yusuf, an operator at the state-owned telecommunications company told the Post by phone from Sigli, about 125 kilometers east of the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.

An activist from the Students' Solidarity for the People, Tarmizi, said military vehicles were stationed at bus terminals in Banda Aceh to assist residents in the city of 370,000.

He said the main intercity bus terminal linking the city to the North Sumatra capital of Medan also was deserted, but that a few businesses owned by Chinese-Indonesians had reopened.

Students and human rights activists called the general strike to demand an end to violence in Aceh and the withdrawal of troops from the province.

Antara reported that only Ketapang market on the outskirts of Banda Aceh opened, but there were only a few vegetable and fish vendors setting up stalls.

At Ulee Lheur Port, at least 200 fishing vessels remained at anchor after their owners decided to respect the strike. But a fishermen said they could not set sail because there was no ice to keep the catch fresh following the closure of ice factories.

Several coastal cities also are suffering a shortage of fish due to the action, Antara said.

In the North Aceh capital of Lhokseumawe, witnesses reported the streets were desolate despite the urging of security personnel for residents to resume their activities.

"Only a few patients came to the hospital today, but doctors and nurses are all standing by in case of trouble," Faisal, a doctor at Lhokseumawe General Hospital, told the Post.

In Jakarta, a small group of Acehnese continued their protest inside the Dutch Embassy compound, demanding that the country's former colonial ruler support the province's independence bid.

Clashes between the military and rebels have escalated in recent months, with the death of 211 people, including 44 security personnel. Nearly 100,000 people have fled their homes to seek shelter in mosques and government buildings since May.

Also on Thursday the National Commission on Human Rights met with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Commission Chairman Marzuki Darusman said after meeting with a UNHCR regional representative, Rene van Rooyen, that "there is a case for considering the expanded role of the UNHCR in Aceh."

"We would want to see the greater engagement of available and specialized agencies to spur forward the solution of the problem there, and then at one point gradually withdraw and hand it over to the Indonesian authorities again," Marzuki told the Post.

He said the UNHCR had assisted internally displaced people in East Timor for "some weeks". (byg/51)