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Aceh rebels up the stakes as troops face fierce gunfight

Indonesian troops and separatist rebels have fought their fiercest battle since a campaign was launched last month to crush the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the military said yesterday.

At least seven soldiers have been shot dead and seven wounded -- the military's worst casualty toll since the assault was launched on May 19 and martial law was declared in the province on Sumatra island.

"This is the heaviest battle between troops of the Indonesian armed forces and GAM since martial law was imposed in Aceh," said military operations spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Yani Basuki.

The clash began late on Monday at Matang Kumbang in Bireuen district and lasted until early yesterday, Basuki said, with 40 marines and 22 infantrymen battling an estimated 60 rebels.

Basuki said the rebels also suffered casualties but could not provide immediate details. He said the bodies of three marines had been recovered while the bodies of two marines and two infantrymen were still on the battlefield.

The spokesman could not be reached for an update later yesterday but was quoted by Koran Tempo newspaper as saying that two companies, or about 200 men, have been sent as reinforcements.

Basuki also said a firefight broke out at Krueng Pati Garue in East Aceh in which two rebels were shot dead and a firearm confiscated.

Twenty soldiers and three policemen have now died in Aceh since May 19. Troops have also killed 160 rebels, according to the military, with more than 300 placed in custody.

The military denies reports from villagers that some of the dead were civilians and says it is trying to protect ordinary Acehnese.

At a court-martial in Lhokseumawe a military prosecutor recommended jail sentences of between seven months and eight months and 20 days for three soldiers who assaulted civilians in Bireuen district on May 27, the state Antara news agency said.

Three soldiers have been jailed for four months over the same charges -- linked to the beating-up of villagers in Lawang village, Bireuen during a hunt for rebels.
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