Jakarta – Separatist rebels killed a soldier on Monday in the latest violence to hit Indonesia's Aceh province, the military said.

First Private Agus Suyono was killed in a gunfight between separatist rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and troops raiding their headquarters in the village of Bukit Nibunglangkahan, a remote area in North Aceh district, Aceh military spokesman Colonel Firdaus said. On Sunday night soldiers raided another suspected GAM hideout nearby and killed a rebel, Firdaus said.

Meanwhile, the planned release on Monday of an East Aceh council member, Ghazali usman, who was abducted by GAM rebels three months ago, was delayed after representatives from the International Red Cross failed to show up for the handover, a local official said. Usman's release is likely to take place in the next "two or three days," East Aceh district chief Azman Usmanuddin told AFP.

Aceh, an oil and gas rich province on the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, has been wracked by violence involving GAM rebels and security forces. More than 1,600 people have died this year. The GAM has waged a guerrilla war for an independent state in Aceh since Independence sentiment has been fueled by Jakarta's draining of the province's natural resources.