Insurgency in Aceh

Insurgency in Aceh

Female soldiers of the Free Aceh Movement with GAM commander Abdullah Syafei'i, 1999
Date4 December 1976 – 15 August 2005
(28 years, 8 months, 1 week and 4 days)
Location
Result
  • Indonesian tactical victory
  • Helsinki peaceful Memorandum of Understanding
  • Special autonomy granted to Aceh
  • Disarmament of the GAM
  • Departure of non-organic Indonesian troops, leaving only 25,000 soldiers in the province
  • Aceh Monitoring Mission
  • Regional elections held
Belligerents
Free Aceh Movement
Commanders and leaders
Suharto (1976–1998)
B. J. Habibie (1998–1999)
Abdurrahman Wahid (1999–2001)
Megawati Sukarnoputri (2001–2004)
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (2004–2005)
Try Sutrisno
Endriartono Sutarto
Sutiyoso
Bambang Darmono
Da'i Bachtiar
Hasan di Tiro
Malik Mahmud
Zaini Abdullah
Abdullah Syafi'i 
Muzakir Manaf
Sofyan Daud
Ayah Muni 
Ishak Daud 
Abu Arafah 
Strength
12,000 (1990)
30,000 (2001)
15,000 (2002)
35,000–50,000 (2003)
25 (1976)
200 (1979–1989)
750 (1991)
15,000–27,000 (1999)
3,000 (2005)
Casualties and losses
100 killed

Civilians and military killed:
100 (1976–1979)
2,000–10,000 (1991–1992)
393 (1993)
1,041 (2000)
1,700 (2001)
1,230 (2002)

Total: 15,000 total dead

The insurgency in Aceh, officially designated the Rebellion in Aceh (Indonesian: Pemberontakan di Aceh) by the Indonesian government, was a conflict fought by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) between 1976 and 2005, with the goal of making the province of Aceh independent from Indonesia. The aftermath of a military offensive in 2003 and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami brought an peace agreement and an eventual end to the insurgency.