Three rebels and a policeman were killed in the latest violence between government and separatist forces in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh, reports said Saturday.
The three people, including a woman, killed in a shootout with security personnel in Seunebok village, East Aceh on Saturday morning were members of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), Antara news agency quoted deputy police spokesman Superintendant Yatim Suyatmo as saying.
One of the dead, Kamaruzzaman, was chief of a GAM base camp in the area, while the 25-year-old woman was identified as Azizah, he said.
"All the three people killed in the shootout were GAM members," he added.
Suyatmo said the gunfight, which erupted when gunmen ambushed police on a routine patrol in the area, also left two other women -- both identified as GAM members -- injured.
Security forces confiscated one grenade, nine bullets, a power supply kit and four GAM flags from the rebels after the shootout.
In a separate incident police Sergeant Major Sumarno (eds: one name) was stabbed to death at his home in Lueng Mane, in the West Aceh sub-district of Kuala on Friday, Suyatmo said.
He said the four gunmen burst into Sumarno's home and stabbed him in front of his wife and children.
The victim was rushed to hospital in Meulaboh but died shortly after arrival. He had seven stab wounds, Suyatmo said.
The four were the latest victims in clashes between government forces and the GAM, which has been fighting for an independent Islamic state on the northern tip of Sumatra island since the mid 1970s.
More than 850 people have died this year in violence between government troops and the rebels.
Pressure for a vote on self-rule has intensified since East Timor broke away from Indonesia last year after a UN-conducted ballot.
Jakarta has ruled out independence for Aceh but pledged broad autonomy -- JAKARTA (AFP)
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