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)