Indonesian Airplane Fired Upon in Aceh

An Indonesian air force transport plane was in flames after being hit by ground fire today as it was landing at an airport in separatist-racked Aceh province, a military spokesman said.

The Hercules C-130 was burning on the runway, Maj. Zainal Mataquin said.

The number on board was not immediately clear, and it wasn’t known right away if anyone was killed.

The aircraft was landing at Lhokseumawe, a town in northeastern Aceh that is the center of the province’s natural gas industry.

Last December, a commuter plane chartered by U.S.-based energy giant Exxon Mobil, which operates a natural gas plant near Lhokseumawe, was hit by gunfire during its final approach, forcing it to abort a landing at the airport.

At the time, townspeople blamed undisciplined soldiers. But the army, which has a long history of human rights abuses in the region, said guerrillas had staged the attack.

Separatists have been battling for an independent homeland in the oil- and natural gas-rich region on the northern tip of Sumatra, about 1,000 miles northwest of Jakarta, the capital, since 1976. Thousands have been killed, including more than 1,300 people this year.

Earlier today, Mataquin said seven people died in renewed fighting between government troops and rebels of the Free Aceh Movement during the preceding two days.

Three were members of the security forces and the others were rebels, he said.

Mataquin did not provide further details. A spokesman for the insurgents was not available for comment.

Last year, the government and the insurgents entered into a series of cease-fire agreements. However, those deals fell through and efforts to hold further peace talks collapsed when security forces arrested rebel negotiators.

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri has vowed to crush separatist rebellions in Aceh and other restive provinces. But few analysts believe that the military has the ability to stamp out the insurgencies.