More troops to be deployed in Aceh

Indonesian troops have been ordered to step up their crackdown on Acehnese separatists

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia -- Indonesia's military is planning to send specially-trained anti-guerrilla troops to the troubled province of Aceh following renewed violence at the weekend in which at least five people died.

The bloodshed comes days after President Abdurrahman Wahid ordered troops to target known separatists in the government's latest effort to restore order in the north Sumatran province.

On Saturday hundreds of people were reported to have fled their homes as security forces conducted searches for suspected members of the rebel Free Aceh Movement.

Elsewhere in the province at least five people, including a retired army sergeant and a policeman, were killed in separate skirmishes and army spokesman said Sunday.

Lt. Col. Wanto Sumardi told reporters another three police officers had been injured in clashes with the rebels.

Later in the day a brief gunfight occurred between security forces and separatist fighters close to the vast natural gas field at Lhoksukon in the north of the province.

The field itself has been closed since last month after U.S. energy giant Exxon-Mobil suspended operations in the area because of security fears.

Lucrative assets

Rebels who have been waging a low-level separatist campaign for more than 20 years have recently started to target gas fields, one of the cash-strapped nation's most lucrative industrial assets.

Indonesia is the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas.

President Wahid ordered the latest crackdown on the rebels after a series of truce accords failed to bring a halt to bloodshed in the province

In recent weeks the government has boosted the security presence there, deploying an extra four infantry battalions to reinforce the 30,000 police, soldiers and marines already based in the region.

The rebels are estimated to have about 2,000 fighters.

At least 6,000 people have died in fighting in Aceh in the past decade.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Aceh rebels set gas field on fire
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Aceh braces for crackdown
March 16, 2001
Exxon closes Indonesian oil fields
March 14, 2001

Indonesian government
ExxonMobil

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