Seven government offices were seriously damaged and seven people – four soldiers and three civilians – were seriously injured when hundreds of people flooded into Lhokseumawe early Monday morning.

The troubles came to a head at around 2.30am following an incident in which a soldier pulled the prayer robe of a young married woman from Dayah Tuha village who was on her way to the mosque for evening prayers.

Thousands of people descended on Bayu village, about 15 kms east of Lhokseumawe, the place where the incident occurred. The security forces were unable to hold the huge crowd back. They blocked 15km of the Medan-Banda Aceh highway with electricity poles that were lying by the roadside about to be installed by the PLN, and burnt tyres.

Traffic along the highway was blocked for 14 hours and eventually the traffic was re-directed to the road running parallel to the Pipeline of Mobile Oil.

The government buildings seriously damaged included the Koramil (military command) command post, a police headquarters, a sub-district office, a village centre, a religious affairs office and the Lhokseumawe district court in Bukit Rasa.

The crowds halted all vehicles including public transport and private cars, looking for members of the armed forces. They burned the Honda Accord vehicle of Major Harahap and Rp600,000 in cash belonging to the major who is a senior officer at the Liliwanga military command – Korem, as he was on his way home with his family. The seriously and lightly wounded included the major and other soldiers, as well as the major's wife.

The atmosphere in Lhokseumawe remained very tense throughout Monday. Many shops remained closed and local people stayed home. Few dared to venture out to the mosque for evening prayers.