Acehnese high school students pray for peace

By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 (IslamOnline.net) – After a week of clashes between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels, the restive province of Aceh is facing impending famine while civilian death tolls rises, news agencies Sunday, May 25, 2003.

Most of Aceh is either out of electricity or water while transportation too is heavily disrupted with the ongoing conflict that has forced residents to start skipping on their meals in order to save food for harder days or simply because food is now scarce, reported the Jakarta Post and Antara news agencies in Indonesia.

The Post reported that electricity poles and trees were damaged along the road connecting the locality of Bireuen and the provincial capital of Banda Aceh. Irrigation canals were smashed, causing water to flood streets and houses, this due to bombings.

For reasons of security and also due to the intensity of fighting in some areas, there was no public transportation in several parts of the province.

The Indonesian military has resorted to isolating the GAM in its strongholds and to attack them as and when the military finds appropriate. Another tactic used by the Military was to ‘smoke’ the rebels out of their strongholds that have already been surrounded in order to kill or capture them.

This strategy seemed to have worked for the military so far with the capture of several top regional leaders of the GAM but it has also caused the death of many civilians the news agencies said.

With the all out war in Aceh, humanitarian aid is desperately needed to reach isolated areas of the province but security concerns, the military said, have prevented truck drivers from operating.

The Jakarta Post on Sunday added that in Banda Aceh, the prices of staple foods such as sugar, cooking oil and eggs increased by up to 30 percent and stock was beginning to dwindle.

Gasoline distribution and supply were also disturbed, especially in the areas hardest hit by the conflict, such as North Aceh and Pidie. Police and military troops were seen guarding gas stations across the provincial capital from possible arson attacks said the paper.

Aceh’s Governor Abdullah Puteh said all trucks carrying staple foods would be protected by the military and were instructed to travel in a convoy.

"Around 100 trucks will resume the delivery of staples as soon as possible, under the guard of the TNI," the governor said after meeting with land transportation owners on Saturday Antara reported.

To support the crackdown on the rebels, the Indonesian police has asked neighboring countries Malaysia , Thailand and Singapore to hunt down any GAM members seeking asylum abroad.

National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said in Bandung on Saturday that they had asked the Thai government to arrest GAM leader Zakirah Zaman, who had reportedly sought asylum in the country sometime ago.

Clashes continued to break out on Saturday in several parts of the province, with TNI claiming to have killed 53 GAM members as of Saturday.

Government troops also managed to capture a GAM commander, Teungku Hassan Muda, on Nasi Island off Banda Aceh. Along with him, TNI confiscated an AK-47 riffle, several GAM documents and a compass.

The GAM expects the war in Aceh to take at least three months or to complete but it will not submit to defeat, vowing to fight a war of attrition with additional guerilla warfare in the coming months.

The Indonesian government gave the order to crush the rebels and to secure the province, pushing the GAM away from the province after more than 25 years of fighting that has caused the death of 10,000 people.