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Indonesian Troops Attack Aceh Province
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Indonesian
Marines ride in their tanks after landing on the beach at the
sub-district Samalanga outside Lhokseumawe city in the province of Aceh
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BANDA
ACEH, Indonesia,
May 19 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Hundreds of Indonesian
troops parachuted into Aceh Monday, May 19, and a plane fired rockets
at suspected rebel positions as the military went on the attack
following the collapse of peace talks in Tokyo.
Some
468 members of a rapid reaction strike force parachuted from six
Hercules aircrafts to join about 28,000 troops already in the
province, said Firdaus Komarno, a military spokesman, Agence
France-Presse (AFP) said.
He
said an OV-10 Bronco aircraft fired rockets at suspected rebel
positions as part of normal operating procedure but the landing was
unopposed.
President
Megawati Sukarnoputri gave the go-ahead for the attack and signed a
decree imposing martial law in Aceh just hours after the peace talks
in Tokyo with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) broke down late Sunday, May
18.
The
troops landed near the airport in Aceh Besar district 12 kilometers
(seven miles) outside Banda Aceh, witnesses said.
Military
authorities have been preparing for weeks for an attack and fighter
planes, warships and thousands of troops have been readied.
Military
chief General Endriartono Sutarto, who arrived in Banda Aceh Monday,
said the army could "suppress the power of GAM to a minimum"
within six months.
The
martial law decree will last for six months but may be extended.
Sutarto
was quoted by Detikcom online news service as saying the military
might impose a curfew in several districts.
The
army has not said how many more extra troops will be brought in for
what is expected to be one of Indonesia's
largest ever military “operations”.
But
Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah said some 100,000 people are
expected to flee their homes compared to 10,000 displaced currently.
The
government has designated refugee shelters.
Komarno
could not say when a major attack would be launched.
From
The defensive To The Offensive
"What
is clear is we have shifted from the defensive to the offensive. That
means we can carry out searches, patrols and attacks."
Top
security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said early Monday that
GAM's refusal to end its 27-year struggle for independence prompted
the operation.
"It
is very clear there is no willingness from GAM to accept the Unitary
State of Indonesia
as the framework for a peaceful solution in Aceh," he said.
Strong
pressure from the United States, European Union and Japan brought both
sides to Tokyo for a final attempt to save their peace pact. But five
GAM negotiators in Aceh were arrested as they headed for Japan.
While
the talks were continuing, Jakarta demanded that GAM by the end of the
meeting should formally drop its independence struggle and accept the
autonomy already granted to the province.
An
estimated 10,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in
the conflict since 1976. The latest peace pact had lasted only since
December 9.
Swiss-based
mediators the Henry Dunant Centre, backed by the United States, the
European Union and Japan, had called the meeting in a final attempt to
avert war.
GAM
military spokesman Sofyan Dawood told AFP the rebels would use
guerrilla tactics "and the place and time of the fighting will be
chosen by GAM."
Dawood
called for a general strike from Monday in the province and urged
industries like the U.S.-owned ExxonMobil and the Arun natural gas
plant to shut down.
"We
don't want to attack vital projects but if the military or police who
guard the projects make a sweeping (search for rebels), we will attack
military or police there."
Hundreds
of troops guard the ExxonMobil operation.
Energy
minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said security has been increased at
ExxonMobil. "The government guarantees that production will not
stop."
GAM
said a general strike would go into force "as soon as the
Indonesian colonial government announces its military operation."
But
the call appeared to have been largely ignored in Banda Aceh, with
stores and schools still open and public transport running.
Paramilitary
Brimob forces and soldiers were patrolling in greater strength in
Banda Aceh, Lhokseumawe and other towns.
‘Vote-Winner’
Meanwhile,
analysts said that the war in Aceh could be a vote-winner
for
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri if it is short, successful
and free of the gross military abuses which stained previous
campaigns.
"It
could be an enormous (political) boost if it's a relatively short
operation," said Sidney Jones, Indonesia
project director for the International Crisis Group of political
analysts.
"Right
now, the fact that a military emergency has been imposed is highly
popular with the Indonesian public."
Megawati,
she said, "is finally seen as taking a firm step on an extremely
popular issue, the defense of Indonesian unity."
Jones
said it was difficult to know when political benefits might slide into
political losses, but the military in any case would have virtual
total control over communications from the field.
Jones
said the Tokyo talks "were sabotaged by the Indonesian
government, but there was not much prospect they could succeed,"
adding the peace process had effectively broken down by March.
"Once
you begin to get the military encouraging attacks on Joint Security
Committee (ceasefire monitors) posts, it was only a matter of time
before the process collapsed."
The
monitors were withdrawn from the field after the attacks.
Jones
also said GAM's behavior in the first two months of the truce, when it
recruited more members and actively campaigned for independence, was
"nothing to write home about."
The
US State Department strongly protested the arrest of GAM negotiators,
but Jones said US influence on issues like Aceh was much more limited
since the Iraq war.
The
attitude was "We do not have to listen to you, look what you
did."
The
Iraq campaign also provided a military model for Indonesian forces,
which are even "embedding" local journalists with troops in
Aceh.
Jones
said people close to the military suggested that this campaign would
see fewer abuses than before, but "I don't see that with the
numbers involved it will be a clean operation or make any impact on
winning hearts and minds."
Muhammad
Budiyatna, a political analyst at the University of Indonesia,
said Megawati could enjoy a boost.
"If
it succeeds it will be a big boost for her, but if it drags on things
will become worse and will boomerang," he said.
"In
the long run, if the policy fails to address the problem and results
in military excesses, her reputation will be ruined and she will end
up like (former dictator) Suharto."
He
said he was inclined to believe the government sabotaged the Tokyo
meeting, but that he did not see much damage to relations with the
United States.
"Politically
the U.S. can apply pressure on Indonesia,
but it will not be that strong."
Rights
activist Munir did not see a political benefit.
"In
fact, I think Megawati in future will have to be responsible for using
the favorite 'traditional weapon' of a military operation to solve
problems," he said.
He
agreed that Jakarta sabotaged the Tokyo talks "by stipulating
three conditions which they knew GAM would never accept in the first
place and using them as a means to launch the military
operation."
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