| Armed rebels killed five employees of a state plantation in Aceh and kidnapped eight others on Saturday. All victims of the violence were employees of state plantation PT Perkebunan Nusantara I in Langsa district, East Aceh. "The five were shot while working at an oil palm plantation in Blang Tualang village, Bireum Bayeum district, some 450 kilometers east of Banda Aceh," Operations Command spokesman Maj. (Inf.) Zaenal Muttaqin was quoted by Antara as saying. Zaenal indicated that Free Aceh Movement (GAM) armed rebels were behind the attack and the abduction. "After cold-bloodedly killing the five, the rebels abducted nine others but one of them, identified only as AZH, managed to escape and has taken refuge at a security post," Zaenal said. |