Two army helicopters carrying Indonesia's Mining Minister and his entourage were shot at by suspected rebels in Aceh province Tuesday, dimming hopes that improved security would permit the reopening of vital natural gas fields there.
There were no casualties in the shooting, which occured just after Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro and his group had taken off after inspecting a closed ExxonMobil gas field in North Aceh, a witness said.
The witness, a Jakarta-based local journalist who was aboard one of the Bell helicopters, told AFP by telephone that both helicopters were hit.
"One bullet went through the rotor of the helicopter for the press corps. The left seat of the pilot of the minister's helicopter was hit by a bullet but it didn't hit the pilot because the seat was covered by a steel plate."
"Nobody was wounded, and both helicopters left Lhoksukon and flew back to Lhokseumawe," the journalist said from Medan, the capital of North Sumatra.
He said the shooting occured at around 10:30 am (0330 GMT) when Yusgiantoro was on a field trip of the ExxonMobil's Lhoksukon field, one of three where operations have been suspended since March 9 due to security fears.
ExxonMobil pulled out of three gas fields in North Aceh -- in South Lhoksukon, Arun and Pase -- citing threats from Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels.
But a GAM spokesman in North Aceh, Sofyan Daud, denied that the rebel group was responsible for the shooting, saying "it would have been impossible for us." – JAKARTA (AFP)
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