Jakarta – Indonesian troops shot dead more than 50 unarmed civilians in Aceh province in July, according to a local government probe rejecting allegations the victims were separatist rebels, reports said Sunday.

"The only shooting was by the TNI [Indonesian army] and there is not enough evidence of resistance," said investigation team member Azhary Basar, quoted by the official Antara news agency.

The government team said the villagers in the Beutong Ateuh area of West Aceh had the opportunity to flee the area after learning of the military's presence four hours before the July 23 attack.

"They [the civilians] could have run away or if they had had weapons they could have consolidated their troops to fight," Basar said, adding that there was no evidence of separatist rebel activity in the area at the time.

The fact-finding team – composed of government officials, human rights activists and police – conducted the investigation into the massacre in August and briefed the press in Aceh on its findings on Saturday.

Rights groups have said the villagers were asked to gather for an identity check on a field near an Islamic boarding school run by former political prisoner Tengku Bantaqiah. The villagers were then allegedly lined up and sprayed with bullets, leaving at least 51 people dead including Bantaqiah.

The military insisted the civilians were separatist rebels killed in an armed skirmish and that soldiers were carrying out an operation to find guns allegedly hidden by Bantaqiah and armed followers in mountainous West Aceh.