TNI attacks AGAM headquarters in Pidie

TNI attacks AGAM headquarters in Pidie

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): The Indonesian Military (TNI) continued
on Monday to attack the headquarters of AGAM (the armed wing of
the Free Aceh Movement) on a hilly area in Pidie, some 100
kilometers east of here.

The siege began on Sunday with the aim of capturing AGAM
military commander Teungku Abdullah Syafi'ie.

Chief of Pidie Military district Lt. Col. Iskandar MS
confirmed the raid on Monday and pledged the capture of the AGAM
military chief soon.

"We have besieged the headquarters and will soon capture
Abdullah Syafi'ie," Iskandar said.

Iskandar said Abdullah Syafi'ie was supported by dozens of
armed guards at the besieged spot.

"When TNI personnel infiltrated the area on Sunday morning,
AGAM men showered them with bullets from higher ground," he said.

People living in villages adjacent to AGAM headquarters said
they heard a large explosion and shooting from morning until
evening on Sunday. They said they had to seek shelter outside the
village for safety.

"All access to Jimjiem village, where AGAM headquarters is,
was blocked by TNI," Muhammad Ali, a resident of Luengputu, said
on Monday.

Iskandar claimed that some AGAM men were shot, while only one
TNI soldier was hurt.

Meanwhile, AGAM spokesman in Pidie, Teungku Maad Muda, claimed
that many TNI members were gunned down in the 10-hour shootout on
Sunday. "While they dropped more troops by helicopter, TNI
rescued its shot soldiers. None of us were shot," he told Serambi
Indonesia local daily on Sunday evening.

Sayed Ansari, an official at Sigli General Hospital, said on
Monday that only one TNI soldier was treated there for gunshot
wounds. State-owned Sigli Hospital is the only hospital in Pidie
regency. "I don't know if there are more patients being treated
at other hospitals," he said.

Separately, three police stations in Meurah Mulia, Muara Batu
and Julok in North and East Aceh were attacked by GAM.
"The grenade attacks injured eight police officers," said Maj.
Eko Para, the deputy chief of the North Aceh Police.

Following the attacks, police broke a vigilante checkpoint
established by local residents, and arrested 20 people.

In a bid to secure their villages, local residents usually
carry out a check to make sure people entering their villages are
what they term as "clean".

"The officers then raided a logistics warehouse. Four GAM
members were killed in the raid. On the way back to their
barracks, the police convoy was intercepted by armed people in
Kreung Mane in the Muara Batu district. Three of the attackers
were shot dead," he said. He did not identify the victims nor say
where the bodies were taken.

Moments after the police station attacks, policemen shot a van
speeding in front of the police station in Julok. A child was
killed and four other people in the van were hurt, a source from
PT Arun Lhokseumawe Hospital said.

GAM spokesman for the Pase area, Ismail Syahputra, said that
Indonesian policemen killed and tortured civilians who had no
link with the separatist movement. He also said that Indonesian
officers stole villagers' belongings when they searched
residents' houses.

East Aceh Police chief Lt. Col. Abdullah Hayati said he had
not yet received a report on the fatal shooting.

Responding to the series of violence, some 300 students and
civilians staged a protest at the Aceh Police Headquarters in
Banda Aceh on Monday. (50/sur)