Grenade in sandpit kills two girls

A grenade buried in a sandpit killed two young sisters and badly wounded their brother in Indonesia’s war-torn Aceh province, a military spokesman said today.

Three-year-old Cut Irma and 12-year-old Cut Wahyuni were killed by the blast yesterday and their six-year-old brother Teungku Safrizal was rushed to hospital.

“The rebels planted the grenade in the sandpit because it was near a police post. It is hideous as children play there often,” Lt Col Ahmad Yani Basuki said.

The Free Aceh Movement has been fighting for independence for 27 years in the oil and gas-rich province, 1,200 miles north-west of the capital Jakarta.

The military launched a new offensive in the region in May after a five-month ceasefire collapsed.

Human rights groups say the army and the rebels are both responsible for the deaths of civilians in the conflict.