The Indonesian military says it has killed four separatist rebels in troubled Aceh province.

Soldiers gunned down two Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels during a gunfight at Peusangan in Bireun district on Saturday, said provincial military spokesman Major Zaenal Muttaqin. Two other guerillas managed to escape.

Muttaqin said troops killed another separatist in a 30-minute gunfight at Kuala Daya in West Aceh district on Friday.

In another incident on Friday, a rebel was killed in an encounter with the military at Pucok Lutung in Pidie district on Friday, the spokesman said.

A GAM spokesman, Abu Arafah, said an unspecified number of government troops were killed in a skirmish in the mountainous Gunung Gurutee area in West Aceh on Thursday night. The military denied the claim.

More than 600 people – most of them civilians – have been killed this year in clashes involving security forces and the separatists, who have fought for an independent Aceh since 1976. The central government is formulating a new policy towards the revolt and has floated the idea of imposing a state of civil or military emergency.