| The general appealed to the armed separatists not to take advantage of the chaotic situation in the province. |
Indonesia's Armed Forces Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said Monday the military lost hundreds of soldiers after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake Sunday off northern Sumatra triggered massive waves that hit the northern province of Aceh. Sutarto said a total of 377 people, consisting of military troops, their wives and their children, were killed in the province. Some 180 soldiers lost their lives while engaged in a coastal defense exercise, he said. Sutarto appealed to the armed separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) not to take advantage of the chaotic situation in the province. "We give a priority to help the people affected by the disaster," he said. "I hope GAM will do the same thing, not making use of it to do other things. Because this is the time for humanitarian works." GAM has waged a guerilla war in the oil- and gas-rich Aceh since 1976 to seek independence from Indonesia, the government of which GAM says has unjustly exploited the province's resources. The quake and tsunami death toll in Aceh and neighboring North Sumatra province reached 4,725 people by mid-day Monday. |