4,000 people fleeing from villages in the sub-district Tangse, Pidie. who were on their way to the mosque in Beureuneun yesterday Friday, were obstrcuted along the way by troops and forced to halt their exodus, staying instead in a mosque in Tangse. Some 14,000 villagers from the sub-district have already fled their villages; this exodus could result in the sub-district being completely emptied of people.

The local army commander told journalists that their aim was to persuade the villagers not to leave which would mean abandoning coffee plantations and rice-fields just at harvest time.

Activists in the locality said the exodus from Tangse began early yesterday morning with people leaving in whatever vehicles they could find, but troops in command posts along the way stopped the vehicles and told them to return home. In some places their belongings were searched as well. But the people were determined to continue their flight, continuing their journey on foot to reach their chosen destination.

It was a very dramatic scene with thousands of elderly people, women and children clogging the roads under the blazing sun, determined to go to the Beubeuneun mosque saying that they would only feel safe when they were there.

One local army commander denied that they had been forced to go on foot because of the army, saying that there was a shortage of transport. But the villagers said that they had decided to avoid army posts along the roads and take alternative routes, going through plantations instead.

The refugess said they were leaving their villages for fear that there would be a war. The army commander claimed however that certain parties had incited the people to leave.

Tgk Razali who is coordinating arrangements for refugees in Beureuneun said that the main mosque there is now absolutely full of people and newcomers are being accommodated in another mosque nearby.

He said that it was likely that all villagers in Tangse would abandon their villagers in the very near future; at present only nine villagers were still inhabited. More than fifty percent of the inhabitants of the sub-district have already left, he said. 'Tangse is likely to be completely empty very soon,' he said.

Meanwhile in North Aceh, the Polytechnic Campus about 5 kms from the centre of Lhokseumawe is now filled with about 7,000 people from nearby villages.

From West Aceh, it has been reported that 7,000 villagers from villages in Teunom sub-distrct have returned home after the local army command promised to withdraw their troops from Desa Bland Rame to the local Koramil (miltary command).

[A report from a cooalition of human rights NGOs says that at least ten refugees have died in Pidie district from the beginning of June up to 10 July. Dozens of women have given birth and the supply of medicines is getting very low. It is estimated that there are now 45,000 refugees in the district, following the arrival of 4,000 more people in Trienggadeng, Pidie - James Balowski.]