Thousands flee homes in Aceh

The Jakarta Post, Lhokseumawe, Aceh

At least 10,000 people fled their homes in nine villages across Juli district in Bireuen regency on Friday to escape intense firefights between government troops and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels.

Men, women, the elderly and children rushed to board trucks and other vehicles, which transported them to a refugee camp set up by the government in Cot Gapu village, some 220 kilometers east of the provincial capital Banda Aceh. They brought clothes, cooking utensils, bedding and valuables along with them, Antara reported.

The exodus began at about 9 a.m. when the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the rebels started exchanging fire at Teuping Lampoh and Kede Dua villages, which are suspected of being GAM bases.

"There was constant gunfire near our house between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. We are afraid of being hit by stray bullets, so we abandoned our village," one of the displaced persons, Mustafa, said.

The government appeared to be expecting the refugees as it had erected tents in the refuge camp, located on four hectares of land on the outskirts of Bireuen. Clean water, electricity, public kitchens, lavatories and health facilities were all already available. There were also temporary classrooms for children of school age.

A resident told Agence France-Presse that it was government troops who moved the villagers from their homes to the refugee camp during the attack.

The resident heard 38 rounds of artillery fired through the course of the morning in the direction of a hilly area in Juli, just south of Bireuen town. RCTI television also showed pictures of artillery in action.

As of last week, the Ministry of Health had recorded 23,536 evacuees across the province, including 859 pregnant women and 3,000 infants aged under five.

It is still unknown how many were killed in the latest armed clashes in Bireuen on Friday.

Separately, the military announced another plan to attack a GAM base in North Aceh, where a U.S. journalist is believed to be.

TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said the military would raid the base whether American freelancer William Nessen was there or not.

"We have asked him to immediately report to the military authorities in Aceh to enable us to provide protection should he wish to leave the GAM camp," Endriartono said.

Earlier this month, soldiers accidentally shot dead a German tourist and wounded another, further diminishing the already low level of international support for the war.

Nessen has been given until 6 p.m. on Saturday to part company with the rebels or risk getting killed in the military attack.

As of Friday, the journalist had failed to make contact with the military, thus missing the first day of the ultimatum.

"There are no signs of their (Nessen and GAM's) whereabouts," said Aceh military spokesman Lt. Col. Achmad Yani Basuki in a press conference on Friday afternoon.

According to Aceh military operation commander Brig. Gen. Bambang Darmono, Nessen wanted to leave the rebels but could not due to "difficulties". He failed to explain what these difficulties might be.

He had earlier encouraged Nessen to call him up on his cellular phone, making public his own cellular phone number in the process.

"We're being polite here, I have opened myself up (to Nessen)," Bambang said on Friday.

The American did not call. Bambang instead claimed that he had received a number of text messages from people in Indonesia to express their support for the war against GAM.

Nessen has been with the rebels since before the military operation began on May 19. Access to GAM was relatively easy before the start of the war, with a number of local television stations broadcasting footage of GAM activities.

The military on Thursday displayed several items they had found in a raid on alleged rebel homes, including items which apparently belonged to Nessen.

Among them were five photo albums with pictures of GAM members, some showing rebels posing with their weapons, a VCD titled "GAM's 26th Anniversary", and documents detailing the rebels' organizational structure in the Acehnese language.