Two soldiers die in Aceh, three caught with marijuana

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.