Police in Indonesia's tsunami-hit Aceh province will rejoin the military pursuit of separatists because the rebels have started regrouping.

Aceh police chief inspector general Bahrumsyah said his men would begin doubling up reconstruction efforts with security operations next week, exactly three months after the waves struck on December 26, the Kompas newspaper said Thursday.

"Humanitarian operations will be continued but it will be done in conjunction with an operation to restore security," he said.

Military operations against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels, who have been fighting since 1976 for a separate homeland in the Sumatra island province, have continued in the wake of the tsunami, despite a guerrilla ceasefire.

Police were involved in anti-rebel security operations before the disaster, but they were diverted to humanitarian duties in the weeks that followed.

Bahrumsyah said police would deploy on March 26 for a "security restoration" team tasked with hunting down rebels, in comments published by Kompas. He could not immediately be reached for confirmation and his office refused comment.

Indonesian authorities have set a March 26 deadline – marking three months from the disaster – for the withdrawal of foreign troops and some aid agencies from Aceh.

The move has sparked fears that humanitarian efforts would suffer as a result of the new restrictions, seen by many as an attempt by Jakarta to seal off the rebels from outside contact.

Both the government and rebels have been involved in peace talks in Helsinki during January and February, and although a new round of dialogue has been scheduled for next month, clashes have continued on the ground.

Bahrumsyah said the disaster had tied up security forces and had led to a lowering of hostilities allowing the rebels, known by their Indonesian acronym GAM, to regroup.

"I estimate that the GAM forces are now better than before the tsunami, therefore the security operation is urgently needed so that the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase in Aceh can proceed smoothly," he said.

More than 12,000 people have been killed since Aceh separatists began their struggle 29 years ago, claiming that Jakarta was plundering the resource-rich province's wealth.

The government declared martial law and launched a major military offensive in the province in May 2003 but it has since downgraded this status to a civilian emergency.