G.K. Goh, Banda Aceh – At least 18 people have been killed in violence pitting separatist rebels against government forces in the oil and gas-rich province of Aceh, the Indonesian military and residents said Sunday.

Five men suspected of being members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) were shot dead during a clash with soldiers in Central Aceh on Saturday, Deputy Military Commander Colonel Jali Yusuf said. "The clash took place when soldiers were raiding a house sheltering GAM members," Yusuf said.

North Aceh GAM commander Teungku Amri bin Abdul Wahab told AFP he was yet to receive reports of the incident. But he said his men had killed at least eight soldiers in several armed clashes across Aceh on Saturday but gave no details. The casualty figure was not confirmed by the military.

In West Aceh, a clash in the Woyla subdistrict on Saturday left four suspected rebels killed, including a local commander identified as Teungku Musdian, 33, Aceh military spokesman Major Edi Sulistiadie, said. The encounter, he said, took place after soldiers raided a house in Trans Alur Tumaron village. Sulistiadie also said soldiers arrested five suspected GAM members from a house in Alue Bilie vilage, in West Aceh Saturday.

Villagers in Alue Keumuneng, near Trans Alur Tumaron, on Friday found three dead men with bullet wounds, a journalist in the district town of Meulaboh said. Sulistiadie had no information on the three bodies found in Alue Keumuneng.

Another three bodies, also with gunshot wounds, were found in separate locations in Banda Aceh on Saturday, staff at the general hospital said. GAM spokesman Ayah Sofyan said one of those killed had been arrested by the security forces during a sweep near Banda Aceh earlier on Saturday.

In East Aceh, three civilians were found dead with gunshot wounds in the Idi Rayeuk area on Saturday, another GAM spokesman Ishak Daud said. "The three had been arrested by security forces during a sweep in the area earlier Saturday," Daud said in a written statement obtained by AFP.

Jakarta in April branded GAM an outlaw movement and sent more than 1,000 troops to Aceh, leading to in a sharp escalation in violence. The government and the GAM are scheduled to resume peace talks in Geneva next month. Previous talks, facilitated by the Swiss-based Henri Dunant Center, broke off last year after a series of failed truces. The oil-rich province on the northern tip of Sumatra island has seen rising separatism since the mid 1970s. More than 700 people have been killed in Aceh this year alone.