The Fruits of War.(Brief Article)

Soldiers dressed in combat fatigues and black hoods would normally inspire fear in an Acehnese village. But not these commandos. As nearly a dozen fighters approach the edges of a hamlet some 30km southwest of the town of Bireun, their hoods are revealed to be jilbab--the Muslim head scarves worn by women. They display gold costume jewelry and very real AK-47s. They wear both red lipstick and red shoulder patches that say live together, die together in Acehnese. They are a reconnaissance force from the all-female Cut Nyak Dhien unit of Aceh's militant Free Aceh Movement (known by its Indonesian acronym, GAM), and they are not just playing soldier. "I have no fear of fighting or dying," says a preternaturally cool 21-year-old named Rosmiati. "All that matters is our freedom."

Those are tough words--and familiar ones in Aceh, where a decades-long separatist movement has led to more than 10,000 deaths and the destruction of countless homes and villages. In the heavily Muslim Indonesian province, though, they would normally be spoken by the men who lead and fill the fighting ranks of GAM. Women have too often been silent victims in the struggle, either widowed by the bloodshed or targeted themselves. (Two human-rights activists and their driver were killed last week after lodging a complaint about rapes allegedly committed by police officers.) The fact that some of them have taken up arms underscores how few alternatives Acehnese feel they have left--how thoroughly violence has come to dominate life in the province. "We Acehnese women have seen so much death, rape, kidnapping, arson and looting that we feel like fighting back," say Siti Maria, 35, a teacher in the capital of Banda Aceh.

GAM commanders claim, fancifully, that they have hundreds of women under arms and 10,000 more women reservists ready to respond at a moment's notice. (They also purport to have several thousand armed male combat soldiers in the field, but experts put their numbers at not much more than 1,000.) The women's combat wing, known as Ingong Bale (children of widows), more likely numbers around 100.

Despite their small numbers, however, the female soldiers are critical to certain operations. "My men are stronger and better fighters. But our women are more versatile," says a mustachioed, broad-chested guerrilla commander named Darwis, who oversees all GAM ...