The Indonesian military and police shot dead seven...

The Indonesian military and police shot dead seven people they claimed were separatist rebels in the restive province of Aceh. Local nongovernmental activists and military officials said one person was killed in the South Aceh village of Ladang Teungoh, three in the North Aceh village of Alue Papeun and two others in the East Aceh village of Seuneubok Rambong. A day earlier, a group of Mobile Brigade policemen also shot and killed Syahruddin bin Zainun, a 22-year-old villager, inside the yard of the Aceh Mobile Brigade Headquarters in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh. The activists said the victims in South Aceh and East Aceh had been arrested before they were executed. They "were kidnapped and killed by the Army's Infantry Battalion 111," human rights activist Maimun said. Captain Maman Sutarman, an intelligence officer of the East Aceh Military District Command, said the killings were beyond the command's knowledge. "We will investigate the case," he said. Meanwhile, North Aceh Military District Commander Lt. Col. Suyatno admitted his soldiers "purposely shot dead" the three victims in North Aceh "as they were known as members of the separatist movement."