At least six people were killed when security forces fired on demonstrators who set fire to a local government building in Indonesia's rebellious Aceh province yesterday, witnesses and human rights groups said.
The Aceh police chief, Col Juharnus Wiradanata, said security forces fired warning shots to disperse the crowd in the village of Kandang near the industrial centre of Lhokseumawe, 1,600 km north-west of the capital, Jakarta. He could not confirm the reports of deaths.
"Locals who were at the scene said that security forces had opened fire with mostly live ammunition," an official of a leading Indonesian human rights group said from Lhokseumawe. He said dozens were wounded, and the area was still tense, with helicopters patrolling and troops blocking main roads.
Residents said the crowd that attacked the government building had been marching towards Lhokseumawe to protest against the detention of a villager by police. "They held a long march from their village and were stopped by troops before entering Lhokseumawe," a human rights activist said.
Separatist insurgency has been simmering in the resource-rich, staunchly Muslim province for years. Residents and human rights groups say a nine-year-old army crackdown involved widespread torture, rape and summary executions.
In August the military apologised for past abuses in Aceh and said it was withdrawing all combat troops. A riot started in Lhokseumawe in early September after a ceremony marking the last troop withdrawals.
Violence flared again last week when 200 machete-wielding villagers stopped a bus carrying off-duty soldiers in Lhok Nibung, about 80 km east of Lhokseumawe. The military says eight of the soldiers were tortured and killed. Three mutilated bodies were found. The armed forces commander, Gen Wiranto, has condemned the killings and sent extra troops into Aceh.
The military commander for Aceh and North Sumatra, Maj Gen Ismed Yuzairi, said the Free Aceh separatist movement was believed to have been behind the attack.
Last Wednesday unrest broke out in Lhokseumawe when a crowd set fire to a police station and attacked military posts.
Not only in East Timor but throughout Indonesia separatist protests have gained momentum since the downfall of former president Suharto in May after 32 years, during which attempts to break away from Jakarta's rule were swiftly and brutally crushed.
Indonesia has been plagued by unrest and crime in the past year as an economic crisis has dragged millions into poverty and led to persistent political instability.
On Saturday hundreds of knife-wielding residents ran amok in Indonesia's second city, Surabaya, burning down a police station and shops after a man died in police custody.
On the island of Sulawesi a crowd set fire to a supermarket in a remote district on Friday after rumours that its Christian owner had offended Muslims by misusing a prayer mat.
In Jakarta on Saturday a bomb explosion wrecked the ground floor of a vacant shop and damaged several nearby buildings.
Looting, religious unrest and arson attacks broke out in scattered areas of Indonesia during New Year celebrations, leading to almost 80 arrests on the main island of Java alone. Last week rioting was also reported in South Sumatra and Sulawesi.