Jakarta – Shots were heards as hundreds of onlookers Monday pelted and yelled insults at troops pulled out of the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh, where soldiers fighting Islamic separatists have been accused of human rights abuses.

Some of the more than 1,000 people watching an official ceremony to mark the withdrawal of six companies of soldiers at the Jendral Sudirman field in Lhokseumawe, pelted stones and hurled insults as troop trucks left the venue, a witness said. The crowd called out "Rapists," "Dogs" and "Pigs" and pelted stones as troops left the open field on board some 20 trucks, the witness said. Two shots were fired in the air by some of the departing soldiers, the witness said.

Crowds later stoned some banks and offices as they left the field and some 50 police and the military police were sent to deal with them. "Yes, the crowds have been making some trouble but we have sent units to restore order there," said a policeman on duty at Lhokseumawe, identifying himself as Rahwi. There was no immediate report of arrests.

"It is nothing, just some people making noise and that is quite common here," said Zulkifli, an officer on duty at the military command that overlooks the field. He denied that any stone-throwing had taken place. The witness said while most of the troops were transported by trucks, the members of the elite Kopassus took an airconditioned bus. Several bus windows were damaged by the pelting, the witness added.

The troops pull-out was the second since Military Chief General Wiranto (Eds: one name) pledged to withdraw all non-local troops from the troubled province on August 7. Some 250 troops were recalled from Lhokeumawe on August 20.

"The pull out takes place in Lhokseumawe today (Monday) and involves six companies of soldiers, mostly drawn from other regions in Sumatra," Lieutnenant Colonel Saragi of the armed forces information office here said. He did not give the precise number of troops, but officials have said 729 soldiers were to be pulled out from the autonomous area on August 31. The witness said on Monday 659 soldiers were recalled.

Saragi said the troops to be withdrawn included 28 members of the Kopassus, one platoon of the engineering battalion, and troops from North and West Sumatra.

On Saturday, the military authorities disbanded a "Tactical command" composed of 394 soldiers from North Sulawesi, West and Central Java, which had been deployed in Irian Jaya. The command was operating in the Timika region, near the huge copper and gold mines operated by a subsidiary of the Freeport MacMoRan Copper and Gold Inc, which had been the scene of several kidnapping by separatist rebels as well as tribal fightings.

In the past months, Indonesia has also withdrawn 1,000 combat troops from the former Portuguese colony of East Timor which it invaded in 1975.