Ten people die as violence in Aceh escalates

Ten people die as violence in Aceh escalates

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto
defended on Tuesday the presence of anti-riot troops in Aceh,
following recent clashes which left nine people dead.

Eight alleged rebels were shot dead in two separate clashes in
East Aceh and Central Aceh on Monday, the day bodies of two
police were found in East Aceh with severe wounds.

Wiranto repeated the military stance that the troops were
deployed to the troubled province to enable locals to feel secure
in the wake of armed antigovernment action lead by separatist
groups.

"They (the troops) are assigned to restore order, not to
engage in combat," Wiranto said.

He was commenting on mounting calls for the government to
withdraw security personnel from Aceh's three volatile regencies
of Pidie, North Aceh and East Aceh.

Among those who oppose the presence of an armed presence in
Aceh is human rights activist Hasballah Saad, who was quoted by
Kompas as saying on Monday that the antigovernment movement in
Aceh could not be settled through violence.

Violence has intensified despite the dispatch in May of a
1,200-strong joint force composed of police and military troops
to Aceh, where over 100 people have been killed in the past three
months. Thousands have fled their homes.

Rights groups have said the number of security personnel
posted there could reach 10,000.

The spokesman for Bukit Barisan Military Command, which
oversees Aceh, Lt. Col. Nurdin Sulistyo, said on Tuesday in
Medan, North Sumatra, that riot troops shot dead three alleged
rebels in Simpang Alue village in East Aceh and four others on a
section of a road linking Bireun and Takengon in Central Aceh
during evening gunbattles.

Nurdin said no security personnel were killed or wounded in
the clashes.

Another rebel suspect escaped the troops with gunshot wounds
in Simpang Alue. Security authorities identified the three killed
alleged rebels as Abdullah, alias Keucik Lah, Usman from Seunebok
village and Baktiar of Meunasah village. The three were 30 years
old.

A two-way radio, three swords, three Free Aceh Movement member
cards, a separatist flag and several receipts prepared for donors
were found, authorities said.

In Central Aceh, the exchange of gunfire involved riot troops
and a group of seven alleged rebels, who fled after their Panther
van was caught during a routine patrol. Rebel suspects identified
as Tengku Rizal, M. Amin, Ridwan, Muhammad, Ismail Ali and Nurdin
were killed in Lampahan market. Their friend, Mukhtar, was
arrested with severe wounds, while the other managed to escape.

Tension mounted in villages near the scene on Tuesday
following the overnight armed clash.

Chief of Lilawangsa Military Command overseeing Central Aceh
and East Aceh, Col. Syafnil Armen, said on Tuesday that security
troops had been deployed to hunt down the two escapees, whom he
believed were armed with rifles.

Villagers in Aluedai in East Aceh found on Monday the bodies
of Sgt. Maj. Parulian Mandalahi, 40, and Second Sgt. Piter
Tetani, 21, members of North Aceh Police, in a pickup truck
ditched on the side of the main highway linking the provincial
capital Banda Aceh to Medan.

Their necks were slashed, Antara reported.

Parulian was from the Lhoksukon police station in the regency,
while Piter was a member of the anti riot force posted in the
North Aceh capital of Lhokseumawe.

North Aceh Police chief Lt. Col. Iskandar Hasan was not
available for comment.

Residents of Aluedai, a poor village 85 kilometers east of
natural gas-rich Lhokseumawe, found Parulian's body in the cabin,
while Piter's was wrapped in a sack on the truck's bed.

The two bodies were taken by riot troops to the Lhokseumawe
military hospital at noon on Tuesday. In an unusually secretive
move, journalists were barred from taking pictures of the two
fatalities or seeking comments from medical employees.

In Jakarta, Wiranto said he would heed advice from the public
regarding a wise resolution of the antigovernment movement in
Aceh.

"But it's clear that our decision to send anti-riot troops to
Aceh was aimed at helping people regain their feeling of
security."

He said disappointments over the government's measures were
understandable, mainly because of the complicated nature of the
problems in the province.(40/asa/amd)