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GRENADE ATTACKS IN ACEH

Date Reported: Friday, April 14, 2000
Incident Type: SECURITY
Country: LHOKSEUMAWE, INDONESIA

Incident: The daily Serambi (Banda Aceh) reported the following grenade attacks during the last few days in the troubled province of Aceh:

In the district of Aceh Utara, unknown individuals fired an undisclosed number of rifle-propelled grenades at an Indonesian military base camp providing perimeter security for the Mobile Oil Indonesia (MOI) installation. The incident occurred just after midnight and resulted in no injuries. However, Indonesian security forces then undertook a hot pursuit of the attackers. This resulted in a brief firefight in which one military person was wounded, and four MOI vehicles were destroyed. Military spokesmen attributed the incident(s) to insurgents of the Aceh Merdeka Movement (AMM).

In another incident in the district of Pidie, unknown individuals fired rifle-propelled grenades at a military mess patronized by members of the Mobile Police Brigade special anti-terrorist unit. A military spokesman said there had been no casualties.

In a third incident in the district of Aceh Utara, rifle-propelled grenades were fired at a local government building near Lhokseumawe. The explosions destroyed or trashed several offices.

In a fourth incident in the district of Aceh Besar, suspected arsonists set fire to educational foundation offices. The perpetrators were unknown.

In a fifth reported incident, five members of the Police Mobil Brigade, returning from an assignment escorting MOI personnel and vehicles, ran into an ambush some 5 kilometers outside Lhokukon. The five persons leaped to safety from their pickup truck as the firing began. The truck in which they were riding was destroyed in the ambush. Government investigators at the site later recoved four M-16 and two SS-I cartridge cases.

A spokesman for the insurgent Aceh Merdeka Movement (AMM) took responsibility on behalf of his group for the attack against the Indonesian military base camp and the ambush of the mobile brigade members near Lhosukon.

Indonesian security officials said the same AMM band had carried out both incidents.