Jakarta – Despite claims by Indonesia's President that the situation in Aceh province is improving, the Red Cross said yesterday that the violence was as bad as ever, with torture and murder a common occurrence.

Mr Paul Grossrieder, director-general of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said the situation in Aceh was "very critical".

"Our delegates on the spot have ... indications of disappearances, missing people, groups being killed," he said in Jakarta after a 10-day visit to Indonesia. "We are seeing people who are left on the ground, killed, hands detached."

Up to 30 people every week asked the Red Cross for assistance in tracing family members who had disappeared, he said. Most were not found.

Mr Grossrieder refused to say who was responsible for the killings. But other human rights activists have accused the Indonesian Army of running death squads in the province and being responsible for numerous human rights abuses. On Monday, President Abdurrahman Wahid said the situation in Aceh was steadily improving and that he had ordered his military commander in the province to "rein in" his troops.