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| Southeast Asia |
| 13 Killed in Aceh Clashes |
| 2002-07-27 |
| Violence continues to escalate in troubled Aceh province, with at least 12 separatist rebels and one Indonesian soldier being killed in two separate clashes in the territory on Friday. Eight members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and one soldier were killed during a confrontation on Friday morning in Bireun district. Later in the day, four rebels were killed in another clash in Aceh Besar district. The incident in Aceh Besar occurred when GAM members tried to stop a group of soldiers who were planning to raid a rebel stronghold in Indrapuri subdistrict. Free Aceh Movement is reputed to be Islamist, but they've recently denied that and you never see them mentioned in the prayers for the success of jihadis in Mecca. They want to break Sumatra off from Indonesia. If that happens, the country will probably break into its component parts, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |