A clash between students occurred on the grounds of Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh (Indonesia), early Thursday, May 21, 2026, and resulted in the burning of several facilities at the Faculty of Agriculture.
The incident, involving students from the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Agriculture, occurred around 4:00 a.m. Western Indonesian Time (WIB) and created a tense atmosphere on campus. The cause of the clash and the cause of the fire are still under investigation.
Alfi Sri Alfendra, Vice Chairman of the Student Executive Board of the USK Faculty of Agriculture, said he and several other students remained on campus until around 3:30 a.m. Western Indonesian Time (WIB) before leaving. However, they returned to the location after receiving information that a crowd had arrived at the faculty area.
"When we arrived, the fire was already large and the police were already on the scene. We were asked to return to prevent the situation from escalating," he said.
He stated that the worst damage occurred in the old building of the Faculty of Agriculture. Several laboratory facilities belonging to students in the Agricultural Product Engineering Study Program and several department rooms were reportedly destroyed by the fire.
"In addition to the burned building, several other parts of the building were also damaged. Broken glass was seen scattered in several areas around the faculty after the clash," he explained.
As a result of the incident, classes at the Faculty of Agriculture were temporarily suspended. Meanwhile, the university, along with the police, are still assessing the damage and investigating the chronology and cause of the clash between students.
This student clash is suspected to be related to a series of previous clashes between students from the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Agriculture following a demonstration against the Aceh Government's Aceh Health Insurance (JKA) policy several days ago, which also led to an attack on the USK Student Executive Board (BEM) Secretariat.
However, so far there has been no official statement from the rectorate regarding the incident.[]