| 'The
security forces also torched 29 houses and damaged 10 others.'
——
TEUGKU
AMNI BIN AHMAD MARZUKI, a
GAM spokesman
'Indonesian
troops also shot dead two civilians, including a 12-year-old
school pupil, during a raid on a house in Lhok Mon Putih,
south of the North Acheh district town of Lhokseumawe'
 |
| |
Sidney
Jones, Human Rights Watch
"It is not at
all clear that the president has any control
over the security forces in Acheh"
 real 28k |
|
|
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|
 ORE
THAN 10 TRUCK-LOADS of soldiers had carried out a sweep of
several villages in Tanah Luas sub-district in North Acheh
since early Monday to track down members of the Free Acheh
Movement (GAM), according to GAM spokesman Tengku Amni bin
Ahmad Marzuki.
On Sunday, a joint military-police operation to find a GAM
base in Ujong Reuba in the North Acheh subdistrict of Meurah
Mulia resulted in a clash with rebels but there were no
casualties, Amni said.
But three civilians, including a 60-year-old farmer, were
shot dead during the ensuing security sweep in the area,
Amni said.
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The farmer was shot while he
was working in his field while the other two were shot as
they were passing on a motorbike.
The security forces also torched 29 houses and damaged 10
others, Amni claimed.
Indonesian troops also shot dead two civilians, including a
12-year-old school pupil, during a raid on a house in Lhok
Mon Putih, south of the North Acheh district town of
Lhokseumawe on Sunday, reports said.
Amni also claimed that 12
soldiers were shot dead during an ambush in Cot Ijue in the
Peusangan subdistrict in the neighbouring district of Bireun
on Sunday, but the North Acheh district police chief, Adjunct
Senior Commissioner Abdi Darmawan could not confirm the
report.
 |
| A
villager points out a hole of shooting on his wall by
the Indonesian military. |
Amni said the figure came from villagers who saw the body of
the soldiers being thrown into a truck that took them away.
Two civilians who attempted to run away when their car was
stopped for an identity check in the East Acheh town of
Langsa on Sunday were shot dead, police spokesman Adjunct
Senior Commissioner Sad Harunantyo said. A third man
escaped, he added.
In West Acheh, police shot dead two civilians who were riding
a motorcycle in Balang Geureuh, in the Seunagan sub-district
on Sunday, residents said.
But West Acheh Police Chief Adjucnt Senior Commissioner Her
Aris Sumarman said that the two were killed during an ambush
on a police patrol there.
Meanwhile, two sub-district administration offices were
torched by unknown groups in West Acheh's Setiabakti and
Teunom subdistricts, the West Acheh regional secretary Nyak
Ali Umar said. There were no casualties.
Jakarta has been stepping up military operations in Acheh in
the past weeks, especially in North Acheh which is home to
the huge Arun gas field where oil and gas operations have
been temprorarily halted amid security concerns.
Jakarta has poured in troops and police to safeguard the
area and allow it to resume its oil and gas operations. The
stoppage has already caused heavy losses in revenues to the
government.
GAM has been fighting for a free and Islamic state in Acheh
since the mid-1970s.
Jakarta sent 1,100 fresh troops to Acheh last month to launch
a security operation against the GAM, after a year of talks
between the government and rebels which resulted in a series
of shaky truces between the two sides.
But the truces failed to curtail the violence which has
claimed more than 500 lives this year.
The
article is distributed by
Tapol in London
|
