Violence intensifies in Aceh

JAKARTA (JP): Violence escalated in Aceh on Sunday, with at least five shooting deaths recorded as the military cracked down on pockets of a separatist movement in Lhokseumawe.

Dozens of injured were treated at Lhokseumawe General Hospital and incensed locals vented their anger by attacking government facilities.

The military commander of Lilawangsa in East Aceh, Col. Inf. Johnny Wahab S. Sos, said in Lhokseumawe on Sunday that the five people were killed by gunfire from a separatist group led by a man identified as Ahmad Kandang, Antara reported.

He said the snipers used women and children as shields, "firing shots from behind crowds". He did not disclose the identity of the dead.

Angry crowds set fire to the district office of Syamtalira Bayu and the police station in Syamtalira Arun; the tax office, district court and immigration office in Bukit Rata; and a warehouse and statistics office in Lhokseumawe.

Johnny said 132 arrests were made by the military operation team Satgas Wibawa 99 which began activities on Saturday.

Helicopters patroled Lhokseumawe and businesses were closed.

A source in the area told The Jakarta Post that a leader of the resistance group was in critical condition at the hospital.

In a statement sent to the Post, Jakarta-based Student Solidarity for Aceh identified one of the fatalities as a woman.

Sources at the Lhokseumawe military district headquarters told the Post that mobs had also targeted the regency office.

An intelligence officer said the situation remained tense and the military was undermanned.

"The rampage is expected to continue," he said.

Unrest has increased since ambushes on soldiers on their way to Medan, North Sumatra, and on routine patrol in the area.

As of Saturday, the authorities had recovered the bodies of three of the eight soldiers missing since two attacks last week in Lhok Nibung village, Simpang Ulim district, East Aceh.

Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto said at least eight off-duty soldiers were killed in the attacks blamed on the Free Aceh Movement.

On Friday, the body of one of the soldiers attacked at Lhok Nibung, 80 kilometers east of Lhokseumawe, was found. The first body was found on Wednesday and another the following day.

The bodies, retrieved from the Arakundo River, were identified as Pvt. Marasil Sinaga, Pvt. Mangatas Turnip and Pvt. Respon Siallagan.

They were covered with slash wounds, spokesman for the Bukit Barisan military command overseeing Sumatra, Lt. Col. Nurdin Sulistyo, told the Post.

He said the bodies would be kept at the East Java military command awaiting their relatives. They will receive a military burial.

Torture

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the intelligence officer said the men showed signs of torture. Their hands and feet were bound before they were executed and dumped in the river.

The source added the local military has stepped up a search for two marines who were abducted in a separate ambush in North Aceh last week.

"We believe the two marines, identified as Maj. Ediyanto and Sgt. Syaifuddin, are still alive and the search operation for the two marines continues, but there are simultaneous efforts to make contact with the kidnappers to negotiate a ransom."

He said the local military was negotiating with the wife of Syamsuddin, the leader of the separatist group in North Aceh, for the return of the marines.

"Syamsuddin demands the release of his men who he said were arrested by the Lhokseumawe Mobile Brigade. But we checked and the Mobile Brigade has none of the detainees mentioned by Syamsuddin."

Aceh was a military operation zone from 1989 to 1998 in response to separatist activities under the Free Aceh movement there. The status was lifted only after Soeharto resigned in May. Accused separatists and their families subsequently revealed torture, abductions and sexual abuse allegedly committed by the military. (21/rms)