JAKARTA. Dec 11: At least four people were seriously wounded when police .fired on residents in the restive Indonesian province of Aceh, according to a rebel source and a re-port Saturday, says AFP.

An official with the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) said four men were badly injured in the Incident Thursday in Matanggeulumpang Dua. in the northern Acehnese subdistrict of Bireuen.

"They opened fire and wounded four men. The troops also destroyed stores in the city, terrorised the public and people are now terrified." the source, who requested anonymity, told AFP by telephone from Aceh's Pidie district.

Police in the main northern Acehnese town of Lhokseu-mawe refused to confirm the incident Saturday, but the Banda Aceh-based Serambl daily newspaper also ran a

similar report. 1 t n i •

It' s?ld-troops’frdrti the elite Brimbb police battalion surrounded Matanggeulumpang Dua on Thursday night and that the situation there "has become very tense."

Serambl quoted police as claiming that their headquarters had come under fire from unidentified assailants armed with Russian-made assault rifles.

The incensed troops, Ser-ambi said, also strafed and destroyed a department store, several cars and assaulted residents who were near the scene.

Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid ordered the withdrawal of special forces and strategic reserves command troops from Aceh on his election in late October in an attempt to appease separatists.

They were replaced by units from the police Brimob battalion.