Jakarta – Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province have criticized Jakarta's decision to extend military operations there as a "declaration of war" on the Acehnese people.

Top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday announced the extension of military operations in the energy-rich province on the north of Sumatra island.

It is part of a five-point presidential decree authorising continued operations by the army – among other measures – that will take effect for six months after the old decree expires next Monday.

The decision is "undeniable proof that the government has once again surrendered to military [armed forces] pressure", said Sofyan Daud, the military spokesman of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), in a written statement received Friday.

"Just as the public breathes a sigh of relief following signs of decreasing violence after dialogues in Geneva, the Indonesian government has once again enforced its bloodthirsty lust."

On Thursday Yudhoyono said "armed disturbances" by GAM rebels must be "annihilated" but added that "appropriate treatment" would be given to those who surrender.

Daud said officials in Jakarta had "mistakenly calculated their adversary because of false reports from military commanders in Aceh suggesting that they are highly successful".He added: "It is ironic that while the public is hoping that violence would cease in Aceh ... the government declares war on the Acehnese people."

Indonesian government representatives and the exiled leadership of GAM met last weekend in Switzerland and "agreed to a period of confidence-building in which they will cease hostilities and then move towards democratic elections in Aceh in 2004".

But in what rights activists labelled a setback to the peace process, Jakarta on Tuesday officially inaugurated a separate military command for Aceh, a unit which was disbanded 17 years ago.

They say the revived command will only exacerbate violence in Aceh, where more than 1,700 people were killed last year alone. Almost 200 people have already died this year. Thursday's separate decree authorises continued military operations in the province, where GAM has waged a war for independence since 1976.