Violence in Indonesia claims 11 lives

JAKARTA, AUGUST 21: Continued violence between separatists and the military has claimed 11 lives in the past two days in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh, sources and reports said on Saturday.

Residents of north Aceh’s Jeumpa district town of Bireun found the bodies of four unidentified people outside a government district office, Iskandar Muda Legal Aid Director Yacob Hamzah said. "All four died of slash wounds that almost severed their heads," he said. Another man died early Friday morning when members of the free Aceh Separatist Movement (GAM) attacked a group of around 30 government troops as they travelled to the city of Lhokseumawe in northern Aceh, the rights worker said.

"A GAM member was killed and two troops were injured," Hamzah said. He added that 10 armed GAM members in four cars had blocked the troops’ path at Bayin village and started shooting.