Protesters stone departing troops

Jakarta - An angry crowd pelted Indonesian soldiers with stones and set several buildings ablaze in Aceh yesterday as the army…

Jakarta - An angry crowd pelted Indonesian soldiers with stones and set several buildings ablaze in Aceh yesterday as the army completed its promised withdrawal of combat troops from the troubled province, witnesses said.

They said soldiers preparing to depart from the industrial centre of Lhokseumawe fired shots into the air in response.

Residents in the staunchly Muslim Aceh province say the army was responsible for abductions, torture, rape and the dumping of hundreds of victims in mass graves during a nine-year campaign against a separatist insurgency.