Indonesian army ignores ceasefire to attack rebels (Aceh)

[bin.dare]

By Daniel Howden
21 January 2005

The Indonesian army has continued to wage a brutal counter-insurgency operation in the devastated province of Aceh, despite an informal ceasefire agreed in the wake of the Boxing Day tsunami.

Indonesia's army chief of staff yesterday boasted that his soldiers had killed at least 120 separatist rebels in the past fortnight, contradicting previous government claims that thousands of extra troops sent to Aceh were working exclusively on the relief effort.

"In the past two weeks we were forced to kill at least 120 members of GAM (the Free Aceh Movement) and seize their weapons," General Ryamizard Ryacudu said during a visit to the provincial capital Banda Aceh.

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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=603014