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Rebel hunt in Aceh launched

Source
Agence France Presse - August 2, 1999 (abridged)

Jakarta – A total of 7,000 troops will launch an operation to hunt down separatist rebels in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, the chief of the Aceh police said in a report Monday.

"The [rebel] group will be terminated soon through the Sadar Rencong Operation II which will involve 7,000 members of security forces," Aceh police chief Colonel Bachrumsyah said according to the Media Indonesia daily.

Bachrumsyah said the operation will target some 200 "armed civilians" who have been identified and whose hideouts were known. "We only have to wait for the right time to act. What is certain is that our target is already clear," he said.

But Bachrumsyah said the operation would only be launched after all troop reinforcements had arrived in the province. "Two thousand troops have arrived. When they are all in place, we will immediately put it [the plan] into action," he said.

Police officials in Aceh were not available for confirmation of the report.

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