page_title: Free Aceh Movement
section_title: GAM III
hierarchical_section_title: Free Aceh Movement / Guerrilla war / GAM III
caption_attribution_description: Bahasa Indonesia: Tentara-tentara wanita Gerakan Aceh MerdekaEnglish: Women soldiers of the Free Aceh Movement
context_page_description: The Free Aceh Movement was a separatist group seeking independence for the Aceh region of Sumatra from Indonesia. GAM fought against Indonesian government forces in the Aceh insurgency from 1976 to 2005, during which over 15,000 lives are believed to have been lost.
  The organisation surrendered its separatist intentions and dissolved its armed wing following 2005 peace agreement with the Indonesian Government, and subsequently changed its name into Aceh Transition Committee. The Indonesian government called the group the Aceh Security Disturbance Movement.
context_section_description: The fall of Suharto in 1998 and the decision of his successor President Jusuf Habibie to withdraw troops from Aceh as part of democratic reform gave space for GAM to re-establish itself, recruiting youths by exploiting brutality stories of Indonesian military. Increasing violence beginning in 1999 by GAM rebels against government officials and Javanese residents, buoyed by massive weapons smuggling from Thailand by the GAM, led to an increase in military presence. Troop numbers are believed to have risen during the rule of Megawati Sukarnoputri. In 2001–02 the combination of military and police forces in Aceh had grown to about 30,000. In one year this number jumped to 50,000 operating in what the International Crisis group called, "a virtual legal vacuum". The security crackdowns during this time resulted in several thousand civilian deaths. The government launched a large 2003–04 Indonesian offensive in Aceh against the GAM in 2003 with some success.
caption: Female soldiers of the Free Aceh Movement with GAM commander Abdullah Syafei'i, 1999
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