|
Indonesia Says 76 Rebels killed in Aceh
 |
|
Indonesian armed forces stepped up operations against rebels in Aceh
|
BANDA
ACEH, May 27 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Indonesia's armed
forces said Tuesday, May 27, that 74 rebels have now been killed in
Aceh in the military's biggest ‘operation’ for a quarter-century,
while the food crisis looms in the turbulent province after supply
lines were cut.
Two
more Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members were killed Tuesday morning in
West Aceh, bringing the total to 76, said the operation's spokesman Lt
Col Yani Basuki.
Security
forces in Medan in neighboring North Sumatra province had arrested a
local GAM commander from North Aceh who had fled to the city, he
added.
Local
and international rights groups have criticized the conduct of the
offensive, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Amnesty
International, in a weekend report, said grave human rights abuses
including the killing of children and other civilians were already
being reported.
The
military last week set up an investigation, involving soldiers and two
local journalists, into reports by international media from a cluster
of villages in the Bireuen district.
Residents
of Matang Mamplam said that troops on September 21 shot dead seven
young men including a boy aged 12 near the village. Residents said the
victims were farmers.
Up
to 40,000 police and soldiers are confronting an estimated 5,000
rebels from GAM, which has been fighting for an independent state
since 1976. Some 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed
during the fighting.
Amnesty
International took both the military and GAM to task and urged them to
make the protection of civilians a priority.
Food
Shortage
Meanwhile,
as civil war is still raging between Indonesian troops and separatists
in Aceh, food supplies are running low across the province, which has
a population of 4 million, and the United Nations agency UNICEF has
warned of a looming humanitarian crisis.
The
lorry drivers who bring in staple goods from neighboring North Sumatra
are afraid to ply the route in case they get caught in the crossfire,
the Independent reported.
The
convoy that left the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, on Monday to pick
up supplies in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, was escorted by a
tank, an armored police truck and an armored car mounted with
machine-guns, with dozens of troops deployed to protect it.
But
armed escorts do not guarantee safe passage in these wild times, said
the daily correspondent in Aceh.
A
separate convoy of 27 trucks that left Medan on Monday, May 26, laden
with food was ambushed by 10 masked GAM separatists south of the city
of Lhokseumawe. In the volatile district of Bireuen, a bus and a truck
carrying vegetables were set on fire after their occupants had been
ordered out.
The
Indonesian government, which declared martial law in Aceh last week on
the eve of the biggest military offensive against GAM, has been slow
to address humanitarian needs, said the Independent.
Local
officials say a massive relief operation is required, particularly in
the countryside, where dangerous conditions have prevented the
distribution of food.
|
