Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Activists have called for the Army to pull out hundreds of soldiers who are guarding a disputed plot of land in the Urutsewu area of Kebumen district, where a violent clash with farmers took place last week.

"The presence of the soldiers had raised fears among the local villagers. The police have also yet to investigate the soldiers who fired the shots during the last clash," said Haris Azhar, coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).

At least 14 farmers from Setrojenar village in Kebumen were wounded by gunfire during a confrontation with soldiers guarding an Army research and development office on April 11.

Haris said many children skipped schools because they were afraid of the soldiers' presence, and that the soldiers prevented young resort workers from going to their jobs, he said.

Haris added that the Central Java Police Office should take over the function of securing the areas from the soldiers. "We must really implement the principle that civilian security is in the hand of the police as legal enforcer," he said.

The conflict erupted after residents, who have long protested the Army's use of the area for weaponry and ballistics training, blocked troops from using the location and vandalized a nearby research facility.