Jakarta – Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province yesterday denied any involvement in a bomb blast in Jakarta that killed two people.

Representatives instead accused the Indonesian military of planting the device at a hostel for Acehnese students to discredit the independence movement and justify a crackdown in the province.

Police are questioning 11 people over Thursday's blast. "All 11 were residents of the house where the bomb blast occurred," Jakarta police spokesman Senior Commissioner Anton Bachrul Alam said. He said the two victims had been assembling the device when it went off accidentally.

"This is God's justice. Before they injure people, they injure themselves. Let them feel it!" Jakarta military commander Major-General Bibit Waluyo was quoted as saying by the Kompas newspaper.

Rebel spokesman Amni Achmad Marzuki said those living in the hostel were not members of the separatist Free Aceh Movement. He said the group had no interest in causing terror in the capital.

"We are fighting for freedom in Aceh, not Jakarta," he said by telephone from the province. He claimed the military was behind the operation. "They have done this before," he said. Military officials denied the accusations.

Rebels in Aceh, Indonesia's western-most province, have been fighting for independence for more than 25 years. At least 6,000 people have been killed in the past decade. A series of ceasefires have done nothing to stop the violence.