INDONESIAN TROOPS KILL SIX ACEH REBELS, ARREST NINE INCLUDING WOMEN

December 23, 2003 – (AFP) Indonesian troops have killed six separatist rebels and captured nine including three young women in Aceh province, the military and police said Tuesday.

Soldiers shot dead two members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) at Indrapuri in Aceh Besar district on Monday, said provincial military spokesman Ahmad Yani Basuki.

Four others were killed in separate clashes in Pidie, Bireuen, Aceh Jaya and East Aceh the same day, he added.

Two suspected GAM members were captured during a raid in Bireuen district on Monday.

Police said they arrested seven insurgents including three women in separate raids at Lam Asan in Aceh Besar late Sunday and early Monday.

The four men were held at a roadside coffee shop and the three female guerrillas were seized following information from the men.

The women, each aged 20, said they had undergone a three-month military course at a rebel camp in Pidie district and were tasked with recruiting new
members in their home village.

Eight rebels surrendered separately across Aceh on Monday, Basuki said.

He said a civilian who had been abducted by suspected rebels from his home at Muara Batu in North Aceh on Sunday was found dead the following day.

The military on May 19 imposed martial law and launched an intensive campaign to crush the guerrillas after a five-month ceasefire broke down.

It says more than 2,000 suspected rebels have been arrested or have surrendered and around 1,200 others have been shot dead since then. It says
some 300 civilians have also been killed but blames this on GAM.

Received from Joyo Indonesia News

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