The Indonesian Red Cross says it has taken 151 bodies to hospitals and morgues in Aceh since a fresh military offensive against rebels began. The organisation added all victims had been wearing civilian clothes. But Iyang Sukandar, secretary-general of the Indonesian Red Cross, told Reuters by telephone this did not mean the dead were civilians. The Red Cross has said it is not its job to determine the identity of those killed in the offensive, now into its fourth week. "The latest figure that I received was on Saturday ... It was 151 casualties," Sukandar said, adding more updated figures were not available because of communications problems. He added the bodies were only those removed by the Red Cross.
| Meaning there's more, to be removed by somebody else... |
Sukandar declined to say if all 151 had been killed in conflict zones in this province on the northern tip of Sumatra island, although since fighting erupted, evacuating bodies from the battlefield has been one of their prime responsibilities. "Their identities were not clear, all of them wore civilian clothing, but if I have to say that they were civilians, then I'm not sure," Sukandar said. Indonesia military officials in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, said on Wednesday 21 Government troops had been killed in the offensive. The military figures put the number of GAM fighters killed at 172. |