Indonesia is facing a proxy war in which a third party is being used to attack Indonesia in any way, Army chief of staff Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo said on Tuesday.

'A clear example of a proxy war is the seceding of East Timor [ now Timor Leste] from Indonesia. Why were there efforts to secede East Timor from Indonesia? ' he asked students at Diponegoro University in Semarang.

'It turned out that there was the Great Sunrise [oil field] in Timor Gap. A book on this issue was written by an Australian who was an adviser to [then separatist movement leader] Xanana Gusmao.'

Gatot also pointed out the huge demonstration against 19 companies in 2013 that led to mass layoffs and rallies against 20 oil palm plantations managed by Indonesians.

'In the end, many of the oil palm plantations were shut down and sold to foreigners. However there was not a single demonstration against foreign-owned oil palm plantations,' he said.

The four-starred general also said proxy war had targeted young people, saying there were 21 cases of university campuses being vandalized by their own students in the past three years.

He added that the rampant circulation of drugs among the youth was connected to the proxy war with an aim to weaken Indonesian youths.

Gatot said to mitigate proxy war in Indonesia, all parties, especially the youth, had to be able to use logic, have a conscience and think. He also called on the students to work on themselves to further develop Indonesia. (nvn)(+++)