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Grenade Attack On Aceh's Indonesian Governor
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AFP) - Suspected separatists in the Indonesian province of Aceh have launched a grenade attack on the governor's home, as elsewhere sporadic violence claimed two lives.
A grenade exploded outside the governor's official residence as visiting Forestry Minister Nurmahmudi Ismail and other guests were inside, Aceh police chief Superintendent Sayed Husaini said Sunday.
No one was injured in the attack Saturday evening. But security guards firing at a van that carried the attackers injured two other men in a passing car, Husaini said.
"Everyone, including the minister, who were in the [residence's main] hall dropped to the floor when the blast occurred," a witness in the room said.
Earlier on Saturday, two gunmen shot at two soldiers shopping at a market in Lhokseumawe, the main town in North Aceh. One of the men died and the other was injured, North Aceh police chief Superintendent Abadan Bangko said.
North Aceh separatist commander Abu Sofyan Daud said his men carried out the attack, adding: "As long as security personnel still use violence on the people, we will continue our attacks."
Daud also said his group attacked a warehouse belonging to Exxon Mobil oil and gas company.
Other incidents of unrests were seen across the province.
On Friday evening, a grenade was thrown into a military barracks in Lambada Lhok, injuring two soldiers on duty, commander Lieutenant Colonel Ferdinand Setiawan said.
Also on Friday, a villager from Meucat in North Aceh was shot dead by unknown gunmen, according to a local journalist.
The violence took place despite an ostensible truce between government and separatist forces.
A three-month truce signed in May was extended for another three months in September, but it has so far had little effect on the ground.
An Aceh human rights group said Friday that 841 people, 676 of them civilians, have been killed in Aceh this year, more than double the number of deaths in 1999.
The Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh) separatist movement (GAM) is fighting for a free Islamic state in Aceh.
Supporters of the separatists in the Islamic stronghold are embittered by nine years of military repression of the group, and Jakarta's siphoning off of the region's abundant natural resources.
The GAM and Jakarta have agreed to resume talks in Europe some time this month to seek a political settlement, but have yet to set a date.
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has ruled out independence for the province, instead promising broad autonomy by next year.
Wahid is due to visit Aceh on December 19th.
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