Jakarta – At least four people have been killed in the latest violence in Aceh, a report said Thursday, a day after the latest peace initiative in the troubled Indonesian province collapsed.
The bodies of two civilians, both with gunshot wounds, were found in separate locations in Langsa, East Aceh, on Wednesday, the province's main daily, Serambi, reported.
The two other casualties, identified by police as separatist rebels, were killed while trying to set a landmine on a road in Banda Sakti, North Aceh, it added.
Representatives of the government and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) agreed on Wednesday to discontinue a pilot project that declared the districts of North Aceh and Bireun part of a "Security Zone" where both sides had pledged to avoid violence.
One of the bodies found in Langsa was found wrapped in plastic sheets on the side of the road in western Langsa while the other was found with a gunshot wound to his head on the side of another main road in western Langsa.
North Aceh's police chief, Adjunct Senior Commissioner Wanto Sumardi, said the two suspected rebels were killed when the landmine they were installing in Mon Geudong, in the subdistrict of Banda Sakti, blew up, the daily reported.
On Wednesday government and rebel representatives concluded three days of talks in the Aceh capital of Banda Aceh by agreeing to scrap the experimental peace zone.
"Because of wide differences in opinion between the two sides, the model security area in North Aceh and Bireun district is discontinued," a statement issued at the end of the talks said.
Both camps on March 18 agreed to declare the two districts part of a "security zone" where government and GAM forces would refrain from violence.
The zone was declared a pilot project in halting violence starting March 22 and lasting until April 3, and both sides had agreed to reevaluate it after the expiry of the test period.
The government delegation to the talks wanted the project discontinued and blamed GAM for continuing violence in the zone. The Indonesian delegation said that in the 13 days the zone was active, the GAM had ambushed troops 12 times, attacked military command headquarters three times and engaged in several shootings, killings, bombing, burning and other acts of violence.
The GAM delegation, however, wanted to continue the scheme citing "response from the people from several circles," but also said both sides should first promote the plan to their respective forces as well as the population and set up a strengthened security monitoring team.
North Aceh is home to the huge Arun oil and gas field where ExxonMobil halted its operations on March 9, citing security reasons, dealing a devastating blow to Indonesia's liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.
Records show that at least three people have been killed and six injured in clashes in North Aceh since it was declared part of the security zone. Twenty-seven other people have been killed in other districts of Aceh during the same period.
The government and the GAM, which has been fighting for a free Islamic state in Aceh since the mid 1970s, have been holding talks in Geneva since last year. They have signed a series of shaky truces but so far failed to stem violence which has left more than 300 people dead this year.