Banda Aceh – A separatist rebel hacked a soldier to death with a machete before being shot dead in the troubled Aceh province, the military said Saturday.

The soldier was out shopping near his military headquarters in Pidie district on Friday when he was attacked with a machete by the member of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), said Aceh military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Firdaus Komarno. The store owner, who is also a soldier, fired on the alleged rebel as he fled after seizing a gun from the dead soldier, Komarno said.

There has been a sharp fall in violence since Jakarta and GAM signed a "cessation of hostilties agreement" in Geneva on December 9. Each side has accused the other of violating the ceasefire.

International observers as well as representatives from the military and GAM are monitoring the truce. More than 10,000 people have been killed in the violence in Aceh since the GAM began their armed fight in 1976, AFP reported.