Authorities in Indonesia's Aceh province have unearthed a grave containing the bodies of 48 people, a spokesman said yesterday. Lieutenant-Colonel Firdaus said the mass grave was found near Lhong village, in the west of Aceh, a province on the northern tip of Sumatra.

Colonel Firdaus said it was not immediately clear who the victims were or how they had died. He said the burial site was located after a captured rebel disclosed it during interrogation. The mass grave is the biggest found so far in the region in which guerillas of the Free Aceh movement are fighting to end Indonesian rule.

The war has escalated sharply since March, when government troops launched a major offensive to destroy the insurgents. More than 1,000 people, mostly civilians, have died so far this year in the province.