Banda Aceh – Indonesia's military said on Tuesday its warplanes attacked two suspected rebel bases in Aceh province, in the second use of air power against the separatists in a week.

One Bronco counter-insurgency aircraft dropped six bombs and fired about 600 rounds of 12.7-millimetre ammunition on the Teungku mountain area in South Aceh on Monday, said district military chief Jamhur Ismail.

About 600 soldiers were combing the area to hunt down about 80 to 100 Free Aceh Movement (GAM) fighters, Ismail said.

No immediate information on casualties was available from the military.

Teungku Jamaica, a spokesman for the rebels in North Aceh, told AFP in Jakarta he had not heard from his colleagues about the air attack.

Rebels denied they had a base in a mountainous area attacked by air in Aceh Besar district last week, the first use of air power in months against the rebels.

Ismail said later that two Bronco airplanes based in Medan, in the neighboring province of North Sumatra, on Tuesday conducted an air raid on a marshy coastal region in Kuala Krueng Seumanyan in Southwest Aceh district where the GAM is believed to have another base.

He said the two aircraft dropped bombs and fired 12.7-millimetre ammunition before immediately returning to Medan. Ismail did not specify what type of bombs were used but said soldiers were now combing the area for rebels.

Separately, troops shot dead one suspected rebel in North Aceh and arrested four others on Monday, Aceh military spokesman Asep Sapari said.

The military launched a major operation to crush GAM in May 2003 after the collapse of a brief truce.

Military and police figures show about 2,200 rebels have been killed since then. Rights groups have said many of the dead are civilians. GAM has been fighting for independence since 1976.