Banda Aceh – Some ten unidentified gunmen shot dead a middle-aged couple identified as Hasan Basri, 50, and his wife Rosmawati, 45, at their home in the Idi Rayeuk area of East Aceh district on Tuesday, the provincial military spokesman Major Zaenal Mutaqin confirmed here on Thursday.

Zaenal blamed the separatist Free Aceh Movement which has been fighting for an independent state since 1976, but failed to provide any evidence.

More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have died since then. Local rights activists have put the death toll for this year alone at more than 1,000.