Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Less than two years after the signing of the peace agreement between the Indonesian government and Free Aceh Movement (GAM), residents of Nanggroe Aceh Darusalam have been terrorized by two grenade attacks.
One of the grenades hit the Aceh Mobile Brigade police headquarters in the Aceh capital of Banda Aceh on Tuesday. The other was aimed at the residence of Lhokseumawe deputy mayor Suadi Yahya, a former GAM member, on Monday evening.
The peace deal was signed by representatives of the Indonesian government and GAM in Helsinki on Aug. 15, 2005, ending three decades of conflict in which some 15,000 people died.
Aceh Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Jodi Ariadi said that the grenade attack on the police headquarters took place at 0:30 a.m. on Tuesday, while the one in Lhokseumawe happened about four hours earlier.
Police had no clues to suggest who was behind the attacks or the type of grenade used, he said. "For investigation purposes the Aceh Police have invited a team from the North Sumatra Police's forensic laboratory to examine the grenade shrapnel," Jodi said in Banda Aceh.
Jodi predicted the attacks were the work of certain parties who did not want peace in Aceh. "This was the first grenade attack ever aimed at police and military headquarters after the signing of the peace agreement," he said.
Even though the grenade attack at the police headquarters did not cause any casualties, the operational vehicles belonging to the Mobil Brigade unit were damaged.
Suadi was away at the time of the attack on his residence. The grenade was thrown onto the roof of the house's security post and exploded three meters away after falling into the garden. The explosion broke window glass at the front part of the house and damaged the walls. There were no casualties.
A security officer at the deputy mayor's house said that moments before the explosion, he saw a motorcycle and becak (pedicab) pass in front of the residence.
"I was suspicious of them because they were the only people around at the time of the incident," the unidentified officer said. Jodi said he believed there was a connection between the two grenade attacks as they took place at roughly the same time.