Indonesian troops are accused of torturing and killing civilians

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, June 17 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A major Indonesian military assault on rebels in Aceh province could continue for at least five more months and drive 100,000 people from their homes, military and security chiefs said Tuesday, June 17.

"In the next five months, it is hoped that the Aceh problem can be settled," army chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu told reporters after visiting troops in the province, the scene of a 27-year battle for independence.

Indonesia on May 19 declared martial law in Aceh and launched its biggest military operation in a quarter-century to try to crush the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

In Jakarta, armed forces commander General Endriartono Sutarto said the aim was to reduce security disturbances to a minimum within six months, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"But to completely eliminate GAM, more time is needed," Sutarto said, according to the Detikcom online news service.

However, the armed forces chief claimed some targets had been achieved ahead of schedule - with troops starting to enter "core" rebel areas after two weeks, instead of after the forecast two months.

Since May 19, according to military figures, 206 rebels have been killed and hundreds more have been arrested or surrendered. Some 26 soldiers and police have been killed in the campaign.

According to the military, almost 42,000 civilians have fled their homes for tented camps. It says it has ordered some to leave their homes for their own safety.

Top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono put the figure at 35,000 and said the number is expected to rise to 100,000. Speaking in Jakarta, he said he had ordered local officials "to take good care of the refugees ... to anticipate new humanitarian problems."

There have been reports of food and water shortages in one camp housing some 15,000 people.

The Indonesian Red Cross says it has recovered 176 bodies in civilian clothes but cannot say whether they are civilians or guerrilla fighters.

International rights groups have accused both sides of serious rights abuses. Ryacudu said the military was open to scrutiny for any human rights violations.

"Let us search for that together ... but before there is any evidence, one should not accuse or else it will be libel," he warned. "And I don't like it when TNI (the armed forces) is being cornered."

Last week the army chief blasted the national human rights commission after it said it had reports that the military is training militias.

Yani Basuki, military spokesman for the operation, said two F-16 fighter planes and two OV-10 Broncos dropped several "sonic bombs" Monday evening over suspected rebel concentrations at Jambo Aye district in North Aceh and Jeuli in Bireuen.

"These sonic bombs only cause loud bangs and are used for shock therapy, not to destroy things," he said.

He made no mention of flights by British-made Hawk aircraft, which another military spokesman Firdaus Komarno had earlier reported. Britain has asked that the planes should not be used in Aceh.

Indonesia's operation is set to win backing from a meeting in Phnom Penh of Foreign Ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

A draft communique recognizes "the efforts of the Indonesian government to restore peace and order in Aceh."

Two Teachers Tortured, Killed

More Acehnese are forced to leave their homes

In a bloody incident, two schoolteachers have been found tortured and murdered a day after they were abducted by unidentified men in southwest Aceh, the military said, blaming GAM.

The provincial education office says 60 schoolteachers have been killed in the past four months.

The bodies of the men were found in the ruins of a high school at Ujong Padang village in southwest Aceh Monday, said a military spokesman, Second Lieutenant Agus Harimurti.

Villagers said the pair were taken away from their homes late Sunday. Harimurti blamed GAM, which is fighting for independence, for the killings.

Schools and teachers have been the targets of violence in recent months, especially since the major military assault on May 19.

GAM has been fighting for independence since 1976. An estimated 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since then.