Violence intensifies in Aceh
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)