Three killed in Aceh latest violence

Three killed in Aceh latest violence

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): At least three people, including one
police officer, died in the latest violence in Pidie and North
Aceh regencies on Saturday, a police officer said.

Police Deputy Chief Supt. Yatim Suyatmo of the Cinta Meunasah
special operation said one police officer, identified as Second
Sgt. Hery Sutiono, was shot dead when alleged members of the Free
Aceh Movement (GAM) ambushed a police convoy in Tong Pria
village, Mutiara district, Pidie regency on Saturday afternoon.

He added that a few hours later, in Blang Mangki village,
Simpang Tiga district, Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officers
were forced to shoot dead an alleged GAM member, identified as
Karmuddin, after he and his colleagues, who were at a food stall,
refused a police order to stop for questioning.

Separately, GAM spokesman in Pidie regency Abu Razak said on
Saturday evening that GAM were compelled to attack the Brimob
officers in Tong Pria village in retaliation for a police raid on
the GAM headquarters in Tiro subdistrict.

Razak claimed that GAM had wounded six police officers in the
incident.

"It was a sort of punishment because they (the security
forces) have repeatedly violated the Humanitarian Pause by such
actions as raiding our headquarters," he said.

He questioned the police's mission in Blang Mangki village,
which had resulted in the death of Karmuddin and the arrest of
his accomplices by the police.

"They were all unarmed civilians. What was the police's
mission exactly in attacking local residents at a food stall?"
Razak said.

Earlier on the same day, Suyatmo said, a homemade bomb
exploded in Kudrang village, Mila district, Pidie regency as a
truckload of police was passing through the village on its way to
the local police subprecinct office.

"No fatalities were reported, but the explosion damaged the
front part of the truck," he said.

Suyatmo added that in North Aceh, the police also shot dead an
alleged GAM member, named Muhammad Isa, in Paloh Kayee Kuryet,
Nisam district.

However, the officer did not disclose the grounds for the
shooting of the alleged GAM member.

Separately, North Aceh GAM commander Abu Sofyan Daud confirmed
that one out of a total of 12 GAM guerrillas was shot dead in a
gunfight between GAM and the police, but claimed that the
guerrillas had killed at least six police officers. (50/lup)