By Ainur Rohmah
ACEH, Indonesia
Three people have been shot dead the week before Indonesian legislative elections when a vehicle carrying Aceh Party (PA) supporters was fired upon in Indonesia's Aceh province.
National Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Agus Rianto told Antara News on Tuesday that a 1-1/2-year-old boy was among those killed late Monday and that they were all from the same family.
"The suspect shot from behind the car," Rianto said.
Police at the scene told reporters that eight shell casings had been found, suspected to belong to an AK-47, a relic of a 30-year separatist insurgency in the region that finished to years ago leaving around 25,000 people dead.
During the last three months, two people from the leadership of the National Party of Aceh (PNA), have also been shot dead by unknown gunmen in Aceh, which is on Sumatra island in the west of the country's most northernmost tip.
PNA and PA are the two main political rivals in the province in the 2014 legislative elections.
Bireuen Police Chief, Sr. Comr. Muhammad Ali Khadafi, told Atjehtoday.com. on Tuesday that it couldn't be determined if the shooting was related to the April 9 poll.
Meanwhile, PA deputy spokesman Suadi Sulaiman strongly condemned the shooting Tuesday.
We have "demanded that the police immediately reveal who the shooter was," he said.
He alleged that the shooting was a case of deliberate "terror and incitement" against PA, but did not elaborate on who he thought was responsible.
He requested Aceh Party sympathizers and members not be provoked or retaliate.
Indonesia - the world's third largest democracy after India and the United States - holds both parliamentary and presidential elections this year.
The parliamentary election is on April 9, with the result expected May 7, while the presidential vote is held July 9, with the winner announced July 26, providing no runoff is needed.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is in his second term, and barred by the constitution from running for a third.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
