Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – A grenade exploded at the residence of former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) spokesman Sofyan Dawood in Muara Dua district, Lhokseumawe, early Sunday morning.

No injuries were reported but the attack raises concern over a surge in violence in the province less than two years after the signing of a peace agreement between GAM and the Indonesian government.

Dawood, now a spokesman for the Aceh Culture Committee, was not at home at the time of the attack, about three in the morning.

The front windows of the house were shattered in the incident. Dawood's wife, Azirni, and his mother, Khatijah, were in the house when the attack occurred but were not injured.

The assailant or assailants threw the grenade into the front yard of the house. No major damage was caused by the explosion, but one wall did suffer some damage.

Authorities say the perpetrators are believed to have entered the house's compound, where they damaged the electricity meter.

"Possibly the perpetrators wanted to cut the electricity, but ended up just damaging the meter, which was locked," said Marlan A Latif, one of Dawood's neighbors.

Azirni said she was asleep at the time of the attack and was awakened by the explosion. "I didn't dare leave (the house). Dawood's mother was the only one who went out and asked who threw (something) at the house. I said they weren't throwing things at the house, they were bombing it," Azirni said.

Lhokseumawe Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Benny Gunawan said officers had collected shrapnel from the scene of the attack. There are no witnesses and no arrests have been made, he said, adding the motive for the attack also was not known.

"We are not certain yet whether this attack is related to earlier grenade attacks," Benny said.

There have been two earlier attacks in Aceh involving grenades. On April 24, a grenade was thrown at the headquarters of the police's elite Mobile Brigade in the provincial capital Banda Aceh. A day earlier the residence of Lhokseumawe Deputy Mayor Suadi Yahya, a former GAM member, was targeted.

A peace deal was signed by representatives of the Indonesian government and GAM in Helsinki, Finland, on Aug. 15, 2005, ending three decades of conflict in which some 15,000 people died.

Aceh Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Jodi Ariadi said earlier police had no clues to suggest who was behind the attacks or the type of grenade used.

Earlier this month, the North Aceh regency office received a package containing an active grenade. The Lhokseumawe mayoralty office received a package containing four bullets.