The Medan-based daily, Waspada in its Tuesday May 4 edition has confirmed that the number shot dead in the massacre in North Aceh on Monday 3 May is 23 and says that 101 are wounded.

The paper published the names of the dead, including seven aged 18 or under. One of the dead is a six-year old boy. Ten of the dead were taken to PT Arun Hospital and thirteen were taken to Tjoet Metia Hospital, Lhokseumawe.

It says that the massacre occurred in Paloh Lada village, Dewantara Krueng Geukuh district, situated 18 kms west of Lhokseumawe.

The paper says that local residents say that as many as 61 people were killed and 200 wounded, but Waspada was unable to obtain the names of the casualties in hospitals other than the two mentioned above.

Local people have collected 105 spent live bullets and two Pindad unfired bullets, (Pindad is the Indonesian company which produces ammunitation for the Indonesia armed forces) as well as headware and jackets worn by the victims, which will be handed to the International Red Cross as evidence.

One of the wounded told the paper that he had been shot in the head even though he was lying on the ground. Another man, who was visiting a wounded relative said that the massacre must be reported to all the authorities and that all those who opened fire should be brought to justice.

[In an earlier report from Tapol, based on a press release issued by the Aceh-Sumatra National Liberation Front based in Sweden, said that on Sunday, May 2, troops entered the area of Krueng Geukueh in an attempt to arrest an ASNLF activist believed to be in the area, but the attempt was foiled by local people. The troops returned the next day and began rounding up thousands of unarmed villagers. When they tried to resist, troops opened fire at point-blank range, killing 44 and seriously injuring up to 150. The operation was reportedly conducted by around one thousand troops including infantry battalion 115, units from Kopassus, Brimob and the army's air-borne troops Arnud - James Balowski.]