Banda Aceh – At least eight people, including two Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels, were killed in a series of incidents over Friday and Saturday, officials and activists said.

Indonesian Red Cross worker Hanif said on Sunday that the latest six male fatalities were found in Meusala village, some 25 kilometers south of here on Saturday. The bodies, all of which had gunshot wounds, were estimated to have been lying there for between one and two days.

Meanwhile, military personnel shot dead on Friday two GAM rebels carrying a total of 17,807 rounds of bullets for various types of firearms in South Aceh. Three other rebels were wounded but managed to flee the military check point, officials said.

South Aceh District Military chief Lt. Col. Agus Permana said that a joint military unit was searching five men riding four motorcycles near a security post in Sapik village of Kluet Selatan district, some 400 kilometers south of Banda Aceh, on Friday morning when the men resisted the search.

"When the officers wanted to check them, they dropped their motorbikes and ran away. Two of them were shot and killed while the others fled into the jungle," Agus said. The officers immediately searched the motorbikes and found stocks of ammunition totaling 17,807 rounds in bags attached to the motorcycle seats, he said.

South Aceh GAM spokesman Abrar Muda acknowledged that the two dead men were GAM members, identified as Johan, 30 and Fijai, 27, and said that GAM had lost thousands of ammunition rounds. Abrar also claimed that GAM launched a retaliatory attack against the military on Friday.

GAM rebels have been fighting for an independent Islamic state since the mid 1970s. At least 1,200 people have been killed this year in Aceh, mostly civilians.