Banda Aceh – Five people – four suspected rebels and an Indonesian soldier – have been killed in the restive province of Aceh, police and the military said Wednesday.

Private Muhammad Amin was shot Wednesday morning by unidentified gunmen in Lampisang village, some ten kilometers south of Banda Aceh, military spokesman Major Edi Sulistiadie, told AFP. Amin, who was shot in the head and face, died in hospital of blood loss.

Also on Wednesday three guerrillas of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) were killed in a gunfight with the police anti-bomb squad in Aceh Besar, about 10 kilometers east of Banda Aceh, police Commissioner Sudarsono said.

He said an exchange of gunfire started when five GAM members ambushed a patrol by the police bomb squad, adding that two other attackers managed to flee although one of them was hit. Police seized two guns and a grenade laucher from the rebels, he said.

Another guerrilla was killed Tuesday in a gunfight in a village in Idi Rayeuk area in East Aceh district, said district military detachment commander Major Rogan. He identified the victim as 29-year-old Husin Basyah and said he was a member of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Local GAM spokesman Ishak Daud said Basyah was a civilian who had been shot because he tried to run away after he saw the troops enter the village during a search for the rebel group. Daud said seven soldiers had been killed in the skirmish. Aceh military operations spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Firdaus (eds: one name), denied this.

Firdaus said troops would also step up patrols in anticipation of rebel attacks before the 56th anniversary of Indonesia's independence on August 17.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in Aceh, a resource-rich province on the northern tip of Sumatra island, in the first half of this year. After a series of failed peace talks last year, Jakarta in April sent more troops into the province to try to crush the rebel movement.