THE war isnt only between GAM and the military. At Takengon, Central Aceh, the local population who consist mostly of transmigrants, have organized themselves into a kind of civil defence group known as Wanra. With homemade weapons, they too are fighting GAM members who have retreated from east and northern Aceh regions.

The result of such face-offs is shocking. Some 1,000 civilians have died in shoot-outs in the villages of Syah Utama, Bandar and