Lhokseumawe – Two people were killed when police in the Indonesian province of Aceh opened fire Tuesday to disperse thousands of pro-separatist students, residents said.

They said around 10,000 junior and high school students had arrived in Lhokseumawe, the main town in the district of North Aceh on Sumatra island, in dozens of trucks to demand the release of 24 students arrested in a protest Monday.

Yacob Hamzah of the Iskandar Muda Legal Aid Foundation said a high school student and a member of the police mobile brigade were killed.

A hospital employee said the policeman had been shot in the head. It was unclear whether he was shot by mistake by one of his own men or by an outsider.

Apart from the dead, the employee said a seven-year-old boy was brought in with a gunshot wound in the chest and an 18-year old high school student was shot in the shoulder and the arm.

"There were thousands of students ... police fired when they had reached the police headquarters in Jalan Medan Aceh at around 2pm," one resident said.

Students and residents of Lhokseumawe had launched mass street protests since Sunday after authorities tore down banners calling for a referendum on self-determination for Aceh.

Protesters also carried the red Aceh separatist flag. "The flag is now flying from many, many homes today," Hamzah said.