In the Mountains of Sumatra, We Struggle

These are the mountains in North Aceh, Aceh, Sumatra, one of the places on earth where battles have occurred throughout the ages. Just like in several other places on earth prone to war.

These mountains are part of the Bukit Barisan, which is a series of mountains that stretches along the island of Sumatra, the sixth largest island in the world.

I don't know for sure the number of mountains in Sumatra, but in our area there are many in Aceh. We have Mount Geurutee, Mount Seulawah, Mount Paroe, Mount Kulu, Mount Hulumasen, Mount Goh, Mount Geureudong, Mount Salak and many more. That's only in Aceh, especially along the island of Sumatra.

There are hundreds of large and small mountains. You may have heard of one of them, namely Mount Sinabung because it has only erupted a few times.

If you want to get to know Sumatra more scientifically with quite complete data, please click and read directly --->> read Sumatra Island https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumatra. Just click.

Here, I'm not going to talk about science, but tell about what happened in those mountains, as far as I can remember. Maybe few people know. For some people, that matters, for others it doesn't.

What We Experienced on the Battlefield in the 2000s

The mountain seen in the photo in this article is a mountain in the southern part of North Aceh. Around 1998-2005 AD, it was in these mountains where the ASNLF (Sumatra Aceh National Liberation Front) troops were based, or better known as GAM (Free Aceh Movement).

Even though the Aceh movement occurs evenly, the center of the movement is where we are in North Aceh. Even though the name is Tiro Command Center. ---Tiro is the name of a place in the Pidie mountain region, the birthplace of the founder of ASNLF (GAM), Hasan Di Tiro---, but his headquarters is there, in our mountains. The mountain was the center of the GAM movement in the 2000s.

There were two warring parties at that time. First, the legitimate state party, the Republic of Indonesia. Second, the ASNLF Public Prosecutor. Although the top leadership of the ASNLF are in exile in Sweden, the movement is independent.

Not a single country supports the ASNLF movement, nor does a single country support RI against the Acehnese fighters. The two armed forces are not balanced because the numbers and facilities are different, they are independent, there is no coalition.

The two sides fought over Aceh's land and fought over the hearts of the Acehnese people. The struggle ended with the signing of the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) between GAM and RI (Republic of Indonesia), on 15 August 2005 in Helsinki, Finland.

Of the two unequal armies, I was the one with the fewest numbers and facilities. That's not good, being a small party, not good at all. That's what we experienced before, has become history.

The weapons we use are weapons that are smuggled from abroad, we buy them with people's money collected in various ways.

North Aceh Mountains

The mountains in this image are medium and high plains. There is a lowland, a few kilometers from the sea coast. After that there is the central plains, valleys or foothills. The people there are farmers and gardeners. In an area slightly higher than that, it was there that GAM fighters set up a temporary base.

While the higher land is the area of valley cliffs and mountain peaks. No residents. We Acehnese guerrillas don't want to live in the mountains. No food. Aceh's forests do not provide food, the trees are wood, they do not provide fruit.

------That will change if now, or in the future, the government is willing to plant fruit trees into forests. If that is done, then the animals will get enough food. Hopefully our government, or foreign NGOs who care about the environment will plant fruit trees in the forest for nature in our mountains, in Aceh, Sumatra----

So, we Acehnese guerrillas set up bases between mountain settlements and valley cliffs or mountain peaks. This was so we could easily get food and get out of the way when the Indonesian army's siege troops arrived. It's no secret, the Indonesian military also knows that. We both know the battle areas and each other's battles.

The Indonesian army was also equipped with good guerrilla knowledge. In fact, as natives, we know the terrain better. Or, nature is closer to us. They were sent all the way there, as for us, it is hometown. Never mind, that has passed, only the wounds on us, the soldiers, from both sides remain.

Comparison of Now with Old Sovereignty

To compare what we did in the 2000s, we can review existing historical data.

Throughout its history, which can still be recorded, in Sumatra there was once the Siriwijaya Kingdom with its capital in Palembang, in South Sumatra. At the same time, there was the kingdom of Lamuri, on the northern tip of Sumatra. The capital was at Lamreh, now Aceh Besar.

The two kingdoms are said to have fought with the troops of King Rajendra Chola I from the Cola Kingdom, mainland India. After that both empires fell.

Then came the Sultanate of Sumatra (some call it Samudra Pasai), with the capital city in Bandar Sumatra, around Geudong, present-day North Aceh. They fought with the Portuguese troops.

After the Sumatran Sultanate collapsed, the Aceh Darussalam Sultanate emerged, whose capital city was Banda Aceh. They also fought with Portuguese troops for several hundred years. Approximately 360 years after standing and ruling in Sumatra, the Sultanate of Aceh Darussalam fought against the Dutch troops.

I did not write down the year numbers for all these kingdoms, because this is not for writing history, but rather an introduction to how the big or small kingdoms with knowledge that was defended by war were founded in Sumatra.

Battle, War

How did the troops before 1000 AD until tens of years later fight on this island. Are they only centered on the coast or also exploring the mountains like us in the 2000s. No records have been found of that.

Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo who had been to Bandar Sumatra when the empire was still standing did not tell where the Sumatran troops fought with the Portuguese, whether they only fought on the coast and on ships, or explored the same mountains. like we do? did in the 2000s, some 700 years later. Hopefully in the future there will be no more wars in Sumatra.

Thank you

January 27, 2023

Kind Regards
Thayeb Loh Angen

Captions for All Photos: View of the mountains of western North Aceh, Aceh, Sumatra, January 25, 2023. Photo by Jamaluddin-Lodin. With Nikon D7000 Camera, Nikon AF Nikkor 70-300mm Lens.