Villagers claim TNI murdered 10 civilians in cold blood

Agencies, Bireuen, Aceh

Indonesian troops murdered 10 civilians in cold blood, including a 12-year old boy, at a shrimp farm in Peusangan district, Bireuen Regency, Aceh early Wednesday morning, villagers claim.

The Indonesian Military (TNI) have admitted the killings but said the dead were unarmed members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Ramlah, 65, said her son Khairulrazi Ismail, 28, was among the victims.

She said Khairul, along with a number of his friends working at farm, were sleeping in a hut near the ponds when soldiers arrived.

"I never thought that I would lose him this soon," a weeping Ramlah told The Jakarta Post at her village of Mata Mamplam.

Ramlah said his son and the other victims were shot in the head.

She said Chairulrazi was mentally unstable and had no links to GAM. "He was mostly afraid of the sounds of gunshots. He would run away when hearing a gunshot."

Families of other victims also expressed grief over the killings.

"I found my son lying in the water," Yusuf, who lost his 28- year-old son during the raid, told The Associated Press.

"The shrimp farm was filled with bodies and blood. Why me? Why my child? Why can't the military be more selective?"

"I can't believe I had to bury my 12-year-old son in a hole with three other people," yelled Fauziah, who said her son was also killed.

GAM accused government troops of lining up villagers, shooting them and forcing relatives to bury them.

"It's basically a massacre of civilians," separatist spokesman Tengku Sofyan Dawood said. "This is not a clash or a gunbattle between rebels and the military. It's the military shooting innocent civilians. They woke up villagers who were sleeping in a hut by shrimp farms, lined them up and shot them all."

Aceh military chief Maj. Endang Suwarya denied the allegations, saying his troops had not killed any civilians since launching the offensive Monday after the declaration of martial law.

"Absolutely no civilians were killed," he said. "We have a list of targets that we want killed or captured. We don't miss or make mistakes."

A military report on the attack in Bireuen stated 10 villagers were killed, ranging in age from 13 years to 55 years. The attack, the report said, occurred after soldiers spotted a bomb on a bridge. The 10 villagers were all rebels, but were unarmed, it said.

"Even though they were unarmed, they were rebels because villagers admitted it," the report said.

With international monitors evacuated from the region because of the hostilities, there is no way to verify either side's claims.