Two soldiers die in Aceh, three caught with marijuana
Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
Two members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) died and four others sustained injuries during clashes with an armed group in South Aceh on Sunday, marking the first deaths of TNI soldiers since Indonesia signed a peace agreement with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
One of the survivors, Pvt. Sarwoko said the attack occurred in the Kluet Selatan district's village of Jambo Papeun in South Aceh.
The 18 soldiers were traveling by truck to replace troops in the Manggamat district and had just arrived at Jambo Papeun, when a group of armed men opened fire on them from all four directions.
"I don't know how many (attackers) there were, but they must have been firing at us using seven to 10 weapons," Sarwoko said.
Wawan Wardana and Pvt. Zulfahmi died in the attack and have been returned to Jakarta.
It was not immediately clear whether GAM was behind the attack, and the rebel group could not be reached for comment.
Aceh's military chief Maj. Gen. Djali Yusuf blamed GAM for the attack. "We're trying to make this cease fire work, we expect GAM to do the same," he said as he visited the four injured troops at the Iskandar Muda military hospital in Banda Aceh.
He said that just because TNI soldiers were outside their barracks, it did not mean they were sweeping the area for GAM members. "It (the attack) would have been okay, if we had been after them."
On Saturday, a member of the police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) was shot dead by an unidentified armed group.
At least thirteen people have been reportedly killed, and other have gone missing, in violence since Indonesia and GAM signed the agreement on Dec. 9, which it was hoped would pave the way for lasting peace in the province.
Djali added that the TNI would report the latest incident to the Joint Security Committee (JSC), in charge of implementing the peace agreement.
Helping it will be a 150 strong monitoring team with members from the two warring sides and international experts from the Henry Dunant Centre (HDC) which has facilitated the peace negotiations.
Meanwhile, in North Sumatra, police nabbed three Aceh-based soldiers in the Deli Serdang regency who were in possession of 392 kilograms of marijuana, which they planned to sell in Medan.
Corp. Mualimin was shot in his leg in a shootout with the police as he, Pvt. Sutrisno and Pvt. Selamat tried to flee.
The three soldiers are stationed in Aceh, said Bukit Barisan police spokesman Lt. Col. Nurdin Sulistiyo.
He said the soldiers had taken the marijuana from the Southeastern part of Aceh and had planned to sell it to another person in Medan. "They said they were each promised Rp 100,000 (about US$11) for every kilogram of marijuana if they made it to Medan," Nurdin said.
Marijuana grows in abundance in Aceh's climate.
GAM has been fighting Jakarta for independence since 1976 in the natural resource rich province. More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed.