Banda Aceh – Rebels shot and wounded a Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officer in a gunfight between security forces and Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the third attack since a cease-fire was declared eight days ago, an official said Friday.
Pvt. Philipus was shot in the head and taken to Lilawangsa Military Hospital after a 30-minute gunfight in Cot Krieng village in Muara Dua district, North Aceh on Thursday, local police spokesman Capt. Ahmad Mustafa Kamal said.
"The incident was triggered by the hoisting of hundreds of GAM flags along the five-kilometer route of Jl. Lem Pipa near Exxon-Oil company operations in Blang Mangat early on Thursday. Rebels were escorting groups of people who erected the flags," Ahmad said.
Later in the afternoon, around 50 Brimob personnel arrived in Muara Dua area in attempt to clear the area and pull out the flags. "Suddenly they were ambushed and about 10 rebels escaped into the jungle after the gunfight," Ahmad claimed.
In the past, rebels have often attacked police who removed their flags from villages. In West Aceh, dozens of GAM flags in Kuala district were hoisted along with the national red-and-white in several villages on Friday.
Meanwhile, it was also reported that schools in North Aceh were closed on Friday following a letter, reportedly issued by GAM, declaring Friday a school holiday, officer Ahmad said, adding it remained unclear whether GAM was trying to make Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, a public holiday.
From the date the Geneva pact was signed until June 1, a day before the truce came into effect, a total of 33 people were killed, seven of them security personnel.
'They could be friends in the afternoon, enemies at night'
Straits Times - June 10, 2000
Although Lieutenant Komaruz Zaman might be an emissary of "Operasi Cinta Damai" or Operation Love Peace, he isn't taking any chances in one of Indonesia's most volatile provinces.
As he sits in a cafe in north Aceh, his machine gun at the ready, two friends stand guarding their commander, their eyes searching the street for any sudden movement. Outside another four mobile brigade police guard their truck.
His eyes scanning the street, Lieutenant Komaruz says his relationship with the ordinary people, in one of Indonesia's most conflict-ridden provinces, is good. "The Acehnese and we are all Indonesians so there is no problem," says the 25-year-old Javanese policeman.
However the heavy security required for soldiers and police whenever they venture into town, and the reports of plain-clothed troops shot by mysterious attackers, belie the positive spin on the relationship between the two sides.
As much as their operation is about providing security, it is also about the politics of convincing Acehnese that the police sincerely want a good relationship with the people during this three-month ceasefire. "The most important thing is the people who have suffered," says one police chief.
To prove the armed forces are not taking sides, these police remove an Indonesian flag along with the offending separatist flag from a nearby flagpole.
However, Lt Komaruz admits that winning over the hearts and minds of local people is not easy as easy as lowering an Indonesian flag. Often his mobile brigade unit is blamed for burning buildings and houses when he suspects the rebels did it.
"They want us to look bad, and so the people are more sympathetic towards GAM," he says of the Free Aceh movement's motivation for destroying people's houses.
Operation Love Peace is also a chance for the police to shine after the performance of the armed forces has been discredited in places such as Aceh, Maluku and East Timor, and show that the police, rather than the military, are really capable of enforcing domestic security.
But there are still significant hurdles to overcome, a senior police colonel admits. "Security in this country must be provided by the police but we are not ready. We don't have the equipment, the facilities, the training or even the numbers. "The upper classes demand we respect human rights but the police profession must be supported by education and enough training."
The police have also been a lot faster than the military to hail Aceh's three-month ceasefire, possibly because in this conflict the police have borne the brunt of casualties. This year alone, of the 68 military personnel killed in the conflict, more than two thirds were from the police.
Mr Abdullah Sufi, from Bengkulu, Sumatra, a mobile brigade policeman who is stationed outside Banda Aceh, says he learnt just how risky a policeman's life in Aceh is.
On his first day, here he was greeted with the news that one of his colleagues had been killed during a patrol in West Aceh. "I was happy but afraid to arrive in Aceh," says the 23-year-old.
Nevertheless working in a small station a few kilometres from police or military reinforcements takes its toll. "Every time we hear a blast we jump, even if it is not gun shots," he says with a laugh.
Sitting behind the barricaded local military station on the highway between Banda Aceh and Medan, Mr Abdul says it is difficult to know when they will be attacked and they believe their movements are watched.
Although they are encouraged to be friendly with locals, they still don't know who exactly is a member of the rebel army. "They could be friends in the afternoon but enemies at night," he says.
But as a native of Sumatra, unlike some of the Javanese troops, he says he is able to trust some Acehnese and make real friends such as Mohammad, who he calls brother, and Mohammad's sister, Nana.
Why is Mohammad's house not burnt down and their family isolated as happens to most Acehnese who befriend troops? "In the city, people are more intelligent and more neutral and they don't side with either GAM or TNI," although he adds that of course he only visits in plain clothes.
He says he would have no problem marrying an Acehnese woman. But Mohammad's sister disagrees. "You can't marry a soldier; people will reject you and be suspicious that you are a spy," says Nuriah.