TWO SOLDIERS, 11-YEAR-OLD GIRL KILLED IN INDONESIA'S ACEH PROVINCE

December 18, 2003 – (AFP) Two Indonesian soldiers have been killed in a separatist rebel ambush in Aceh province and a girl aged 11 has died in crossfire, the military said Thursday.

The sergeants from the army strategic reserve Kostrad were ambushed by Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members after making a call at a telephone kiosk at Meukek in South Aceh on Tuesday, said Ditya Sudarsono, a provincial military spokesman.

"This incident was caused by the soldiers' negligence. They were new in the area and had no knowledge of the area," Sudarsono said.

A girl aged 11 was shot dead and two other civilians were injured Tuesday night by crossfire between the guerrillas and paramilitary police, said another military spokesman, Ahmad Yani Basuki. The incident happened in the Nisam area of North Aceh.

Two suspected rebels were killed in East and North Aceh on Tuesday, Basuki said.

He said military investigators have established that a man arrested in Riau province is not a top separatist rebel commander called Abu Razak, as earlier suspected.

The military on May 19 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 more than 1,100 others have been shot dead since then.

An international rights group which interviewed Acehnese refugees in Malaysia accused the military of pursuing a campaign of killings, kidnappings and
beatings of civilians in the province on Sumatra island.

Human Rights Watch, in a Thursday report, said the refugees reported extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, beatings and arbitrary arrests.

Residents in Aceh Jaya in the west of the province have set up a branch of an anti-rebel civilian group, the state Antara news agency reported.

Branch leader Hasbi Yunus was quoted as saying the rebels had ten days to surrender or face a hunt by his men who are "armed with spears and swords."

District chief Zulfian Ahmad said he would give ten million rupiah (1,178 dollars) to any resident who could confiscate a firearm from GAM.

The spokesman, Sudarsono, said he saw "no problem" with the reward offer because residents there "are longing to have peace."

Similar groups have been set up elsewhere in the province. The military supports the groups but denies any hand in setting them up.

Received from Joyo Indonesia News

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