Banda Aceh – Hundreds of Indonesian troops were deployed Sunday searching for rebels who allegedly killed nine police officers and soldiers in an ambush, the military said.

The attack Saturday was the latest outbreak of violence in troubled Aceh province in north Sumatra, where separatist guerrillas are fighting for an independent Islamic state. They have called for a boycott of June 7 national parliamentary elections.

The rebels ambushed a convoy of army trucks near Sawang, a village 60 miles west of the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, regional military commander Col. Syarifuddin Tippe.

Security personnel returned fire but no rebels were killed or wounded, Tippe said. Two police officers and seven soldiers died. "We have sent troops in to find the rebels," he said.

The military accused rebels of killing four security personnel and a doctor and nurse in two separate incidents last week in Aceh, 1,100 miles northwest of Jakarta, the Indonesian capital.

A small group of rebels has been fighting for independence since the 1970s. Independence activists claim the military has committed widespread human rights abuses while clamping down on the rebels.

Tensions have risen in Aceh ahead of the June 7 ballot. Separatists demand a referendum on independence instead of the parliamentary vote. Officials have said the vote might be postponed in Aceh if violence escalates.