Jakarta – Two people including an Indonesian military officer were killed in a clash between security forces and separatists in the remote eastern province of Papua, a military official said on Saturday.

The clash occurred on Friday after the officer and some residents tried to enter a separatist camp in Puncak Jaya regency, about 325 km southwest of Jayapura, the capital of Papua, Imam Santosa told Reuters. No other details were available.

Papuan independence activists have waged a campaign for more than 30 years to break away from Indonesia while a low-level armed rebellion has also simmered for decades.

Human rights groups have accused the Indonesian military of widespread abuses in Papua. Critics say grievances among Papuans stem from such abuses and from dissatisfaction over Jakarta's distribution of wealth generated by the province, rich in gold and natural gas.

Jakarta took over Papua from Dutch colonial rule in 1963. In 1969 its rule was formalised in a vote by community leaders which was widely criticised as political theatre.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said last August he wanted to end conflict in Papua after the signing of a peace accord with rebels from Aceh province, Indonesia's other separatist region in the country's far northwest.