Banda Aceh – Adj. Brig. Syarifuddin was killed by unidentified gunmen and 10 others, presumed to be civilians were killed on Wednesday and Thursday in strife-torn Aceh.

Syarifuddin was on his way from his office to his home in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, early on Thursday.

Adj. Sr. Comr. D. Achmad, spokesman for the Aceh Provincial Police, said here on Thursday that Syarifuddin died after being shot eight times. His body was recovered in the Mon Geudong area of Lhokseumawe.

Witnesses said he was shot dead by two gunmen on a motorcycle who escaped after firing several other rounds skyward. Syarifuddin was buried in Krueng Mane, Muara Dua Subdistrict in the regency.

Separately, social workers discovered nine bodies in two separate places in the province on Wednesday. Six bodies were discovered in a sawmill in Alue Jambe Village in Nagan Raya Regency and two of the bodies were identified as Muhammad Syam, 42, head of the Ia Memeh Village, and Salam, 42, head of a neighborhood community unit in Ia Memeh.

The social workers from the local chapter of the Red Cross also recovered three other bodies from Agoi Village in Seunagan Timur Subdistrict. Neither side has claimed responsibility for the murders.

Meanwhile, twelve activists from the Democratic Front for Aceh Resistance who were arrested for possession of antigovernment pamphlets, were released on Thursday after reportedly paying Rp 1 million each to the police.