blog @abdulmanan

TNI melacak posisi GAM dengan pelbagai peralatan komunikasi. Tapi GAM seperti mengetahui strategi itu. PERCAKAPAN di radio komunikasi pasukan Tentara Nasional Indonesia itu memecah keheningan pagi. Bangau Satu (pasukan di lapangan) saat itu melapor kepada Rajawali (komandan di pusat operasi). Pasukan Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI) melihat canpoi alias personel Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM) sedang beroperasi. Rupanya, Bangau Satu berhasil memantau pergerakan kelompok GAM lewat pelacakan sinyal komunikasi. Pelacakan pelbagai jalur komunikasi kini menjadi kunci untuk mengungkap jaringan dan wilayah operasi pasukan GAM. Secara teknis, yang paling mudah dan kerap dilakukan oleh TNI adalah pelacakan frekuensi radio komunikasi. Soalnya, koordinasi antarpasukan GAM selama pertempuran umumnya menggunakan handy talkie. Medan tempur Aceh yang berbukit-bukit banyak yang berupa blank spot area atau wilayah yang tak terjangkau bagi sistem komunikasi lainnya. Tak mengherankan, handy talkie (HT)--beker...

After a clash at Sudan Hill, the TNI has adopted a new strategy. Why is it so hard to crush GAM? DUSK swept over Sudan Hill, Matang Kumbang, Bireuen. The sea breeze cut to the bone, while the cloud over the hills continued to thicken. From behind an areca pinang palm, indistinct moaning was just audible. Second Lt. Karno immediately headed towards the sound. He was extremely shocked to see one of his men lying covered in blood. Hurriedly, he helped the heavy-set soldier. Unknown to him, though, a fighter from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), was hiding close by, and suddenly let loose a burst of shots. Karno died on the spot. Apparently, the GAM fighter had been caught in the clash and had failed to escape. He had then hidden in a small foxhole, close to the fallen Indonesian soldier. The man was then himself also killed in a hail of bullets from the comrades of the fallen Indonesian soldier. On the south side of the hill, located in the northern part of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province,...

IT comes as no surprise to learn that it is the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) itself that decides where and when it will fight. "It is we who determine the time and the place," said GAM spokesman Teungku Sofyan Daud. Now evicted from Aceh's cities and villages, GAM has resorted to guerilla tactics, and can strike anywhere at any time. Sofyan Daud's own whereabouts are unclear. He can only be contacted via his satellite phone, which he always has with him in the field. According to information from the TNI's First Mobile Task Force, the GAM leader in the Pase area is now somewhere in Rantau Seulamat, East Aceh. Previously, it had been said that he and his fighters were holed up in the swamps near Meunasah Raya Village, Jambo Aye, North Aceh. The Indonesian Military (TNI) mounted an operation in this area last week, but the GAM fighters escaped the dragnet. So, where is Sofyan really? Nobody appears to know precisely. Naturally, Sofyan himself is loath to reveal his curr...

Setelah pertempuran di Bukit Sudan, TNI menyusun siasat baru. Mengapa GAM susah ditekuk? PETANG menyapu perbukitan Sudan, Matang Kumbang, Bireuen, Senin pekan lalu. Angin laut menusuk sumsum, awan di bukit kian tebal. Dari balik pohon pinang, lamat-lamat terdengar suara rintihan. Letnan Dua Karno kontan bergerak mendekati arah suara. Ia terperanjat bukan kepalang melihat seorang anak buahnya tersungkur bersimbah darah. Tergesa-gesa Karno membopong tubuh besar bawahannya itu. Tak disangka, di dekat tubuh sang prajurit itu bersembunyi seorang tentara Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM), yang tiba-tiba melepas tembakan beruntun. Tretetet.., braak, Karno langsung roboh. Ia tewas seketika. Rupanya serdadu GAM itu terjebak di arena pertempuran dan gagal menyelamatkan diri. Ia lalu bersembunyi di sebuah lubang kecil, dekat tentara Indonesia yang tersungkur. Si GAM juga kemudian mati dihantam pelor tentara Republik lainnya. Di sisi selatan bukit yang terletak di belahan utara Provinsi Nanggroe Aceh Dar...

PERANG di Aceh hampir genap sebulan. Korban terus berjatuhan. Di pihak TNI, sedikitnya 23 tewas, 50 terluka, dan seorang hilang. Korban warga sipil mencapai 68 orang. Di pihak GAM, sedikitnya 172 tewas, 111 ditangkap, dan 144 menyerah. Padahal anggota GAM mencapai 5.300 orang. Fakta ini mengundang pertanyaan besar, ke manakah ribuan anggota GAM lainnya? Tiarap atau membaur bersama masyarakat sipil keluar dari Aceh. Itulah yang ditengarai Panglima Komando Operasi TNI Brigjen Bambang Darmono. "Saya pikir selama darurat militer mereka tiarap atau membaur di tengah masyarakat sipil," katanya. Kenyataannya memang banyak anggota GAM yang ditangkap di luar Aceh, mulai dari Medan, Riau, Pekanbaru, hingga Jakarta, setelah pemerintah memberlakukan status darurat militer di Tanah Rencong. Inilah jalur dan tujuan pelarian gerilyawan anggota GAM. +++ Sumatera Utara MEDAN : Ini daerah tujuan favorit, karena itulah paling banyak pejabat GAM ditangkap di sini. Panglima Sagoe GAM Wilayah Pase...

GAM menghilang dari kota dan desa. Mereka menyebar di hutan, gunung, dan rawa. TAK salah bila pasukan Gerakan Aceh Merdeka menasbihkan diri sebagai penentu lokasi pertempuran. "Kamilah yang menentukan kapan dan di mana perang akan berlangsung," kata juru bicara GAM, Teungku Sofyan Daud. Taktik gerilya membuat pasukan GAM, yang telah raib dari kota dan kampung, bisa muncul di mana saja. Sofyan Daud sendiri sampai kini tak tentu rimbanya. Ia hanya bisa dihubungi lewat telepon bergerak satelit yang selalu ditentengnya selama bergerilya. Menurut data Satuan Tugas Mobil 1 TNI, posisi Panglima GAM Wilayah Pase ini di sekitar Rantau Seulamat, Aceh Timur. Sebelumnya ia dan pasukannya dikabarkan berada di sekitar rawa-rawa dekat Desa Meunasah Raya di kawasan Jambo Aye, Aceh Utara. Sepekan lalu, TNI mengepung dan menyiram rawa-rawa itu dengan peluru. Tapi dia lolos. Ke mana Sofyan dan pasukannya? Tak seorang pun tahu. Sofyan pun enggan ditanya soal posisinya. Di seantero Aceh, ada empa...

Soldiers who committed crimes will be put on trial. Will this reduce violations or merely lower morale? LAST Tuesday, the courtroom at the Lhokseumawe District Court, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, was packed with camouflage-wearing soldiers. They were not attacking the building on Jalan Iskandar Muda; they were there to watch the trial involving their comrades in arms from 144/Jaya Yudha Infantry Battalion from Bengkulu. That afternoon, their colleagues were being tried by the Banda Aceh Military Court at Lhokseumawe. Private Syaiful Bahri, and Basic Privates Toni Haryanto and Agus Widayat, also in camouflage, were sitting in the chairs reserved for those on trial. They were charged with mistreating the people of Meunasah Raya hamlet, Lawang Village, Peudada District, Bireuen Regency on May 27 and of not following orders. Four other soldiers are also suspects, and are awaiting their turn to be tried. This is the first court martial of Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel since the military ...

Koran Tempo 15 Juni 2003 BANDA ACEH - Hingga batas waktu terakhir yang diberikan Pangkoops TNI kemarin, wartawan asal Amerika Serikat, William Nessen, belum menunjukan diri dan tidak diperoleh kepastian nasibnya. Tak diketahui, apakah Nessen masih di Markas Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM) atau sudah keluar. Yang jelas hingga kemarin pukul 18.00 WIB belum ada kepastian sama sekali. “Sampai saat ini, dia belum mengontak Pangkoops dan belum juga melaporkan keberadaannnya ke pos TNI terdekat,” kata juru bicara Komando Operasi Militer TNI, Letnan Kolonel Ahmad Yani Basuki kepada Tempo News Room melalui sambungan telepon, Sabtu (14/6) sore. Kepala Dansatgas Penerangan, Kolonel (Laut) Ditya Soedarsono juga menyatakan belum mendapat kabar dari pasukan TNI yang berada di Beureun. “Kami juga menunggu kabar dari Koops di Lhokshumawe tentang kebaradaan Willian Nessen,” katanya kemarin . Panglima Komando Operasi TNI Brigjen Bambang Darmono sebelumnya mengultimatum Nessen agar keluar paling lambat Sabtu ...

Prajurit yang bersalah akan diadili. Akan meredam pelanggaran, atau justru menurunkan moril prajurit? RUANG sidang Pengadilan Negeri Lhokseumawe, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, penuh sesak oleh tentara berbaju loreng pada Selasa pekan lalu. Mereka bukan menyerbu gedung di Jalan Iskandar Muda itu, melainkan menjadi pengunjung kasus yang menimpa rekan-rekan sesama anggota Batalion Infanteri 144 Jaya Yudha, Bengkulu. Siang itu, tiga kolega mereka sedang diadili Mahkamah Militer Banda Aceh di Lhokseumawe. Prajurit Satu Saiful Bahri, Prajurit Dua Tony Haryanto, dan Prajurit Dua Agus Widayat, yang juga berseragam loreng, duduk di kursi terdakwa. Mereka dituduh sebagai pelaku penganiayaan warga Dusun Meunasah Raya, Desa Lawang, Kecamatan Peudada, Kabupaten Bireuen, pada 27 Mei lalu dan tak menaati perintah atasan. Status terdakwa juga terpasang pada empat anggota lain dari batalion ini, yang menunggu giliran persidangan berikutnya. Inilah pengadilan pertama bagi anggota TNI setelah darurat militer...

"We're poor. My son was forced to work as a shrimp pond watchman to pay for his schooling. He wasn't GAM," said M. Nasir Abdurrahman, the father of Anas, 13, who had been shot dead. STILLNESS hung over three villages in Peusangan District in Bireun, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, last Thursday. The woodpaneled cottages were silent, as if uninhabited. The markets, coffee stalls, and the places that were usually bustling seemed suddenly deserted. Villagers chose to stay indoors and stay silent when reporters or foreigners came. "Don't interview me. I don't want any trouble," said one of the villagers from Mata Mamplam in Peusangan whom TEMPO had met that day. What was going on in Peusangan? Apparently, people were still traumatized, even though the shooting incidents in the villages of Cot Rabo Tunong, Mata Mamplam, and Alue Glumpang in a corner of North Aceh, had happened more than a week before. That was the dawn of Wednesday, May 21, when Indonesian Mili...

"Kami orang miskin. Anak saya terpaksa kerja sebagai penjaga tambak untuk membiayai sekolahnya. Dia bukan GAM," kata M. Nasir Abdurrahman, ayah Anas, 13 tahun, yang tewas tertembak. SEPI menggelayut di tiga desa di Kecamatan Peusangan, Bireuen, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Kamis pekan lalu. Rumah-rumah berdinding kayu berjajar, sunyi seperti tak berpenghuni. Pasar, warung kopi, dan tempat-tempat yang biasanya ramai mendadak senyap. Orang kampung memilih masuk rumah dan mengunci mulut jika ada wartawan atau orang asing yang datang. "Jangan wawancarai saya. Saya tak mau ada masalah," kata seorang warga Desa Mata Maplam di Kecamatan Peusangan yang ditemui TEMPO siang itu. Ada apa di Peusangan? Rupanya trauma masih mencekam warga setempat, meski insiden penembakan di Desa Cot Rabo Tunong, Mata Maplam, dan Alue Geulumpang di pelosok Aceh Utara itu telah lebih dari sepekan lewat. Ketika itu, Rabu subuh 21 Mei lalu, dalam sebuah penyergapan terhadap anggota Gerakan Aceh Merde...

FROM behind a wooden boat can be heard the ululation of a woman: "Lailaha Ilallah, Lailaha Ilallah" (There is no god other than Allah). The woman is in tears at the sight of her husband's corpse lying before her in a pool of blood. The seawater in the boat is turning red with blood. Jalil, 50, was the first civilian casualty of the military operation in Aceh, the Land of the Rencong (an Acehnese dagger with a curved handle). On Thursday last week, an Army Special Forces Command (Kopassus) unit was pursuing Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members who had fled by sea near Matangnibong, Peurlak, East Aceh. Jalil's fate was sealed when soldiers became suspicious his vessel was carrying GAM members. Shots were fired and Jalil lost his life. After the army's error became clear, a soldier asked: "Didn't you hear us ordering you to get to the shore?" "No, we didn't," Jalil's wife replied. Almost complete silence followed. Finally Capt. Iwan Setiaw...

The armed forces have trained reporters to survive in areas of conflict. GAM, meanwhile, remains open to the press. INDONESIAN Military (TNI) and GAM (Free Aceh Movement) troops may be attacking each other, but both apparently "agree" on one thing: winning the sympathy of reporters. Both parties may let their weapons sound at one another in a show of force and with hearts aflame, but they continue to speak to reporters with smiling faces. On Aceh's battleground, reporters have had no difficulty in interviewing the TNI. They have also been free to contact Teungku Sofyan Daud on his cellular or satellite phone, wherever the GAM spokesman happens to be. TNI and GAM apparently know full well that the war in Aceh is not just an effort to finish off their opponents, it is also a way to win over world opinion through the media. Prior to the security operation in Aceh, TNI had invited reporters to Sanggabuana, Karawang, West Java. There, at the training area of the TNI's Army...