Lhokseumawe – Indonesia pulled out more than 2,000 troops from Aceh province Saturday after the rebels handed over weapons as part of a peace deal to end 29 years of fighting, the province's military chief said.

Under a peace accord signed in August, separatist rebels agreed to hand over all of their self-declared 840 weapons by year's end, and the government promised to withdraw 24,000 troops from the province.

A total of 2,052 rifle-wielding troops from two infantry battalions left Krueng Geukueh sea port in Aceh on board two navy warships that would take them to bases in West and Central Java provinces, said Maj. Gen. Supiadin Aries Saputra, the military chief in Aceh.

The rebels have already handed in 570 weapons, while Saturday's departure brought to 17,696 the number of government troops that have pulled out from the tsunami-ravaged region.

Peace efforts picked up speed after the massive earthquake and tsunami struck the area on Dec. 26, 2004, killing 131,000 people in the province and leaving half a million others homeless. Three earlier attempts have failed to end the Aceh war, which has claimed 15,000 lives.