Banda Aceh – Fifteen killings have been reported over the past two days in Indonesia's rebellious Aceh province, the army and witnesses said Tuesday.

Troops shot dead four men during a routine search for rebels in the Syamtalira Bayu area of North Aceh early Tuesday, witnesses said. They told AFP on condition of anonymity that the four had run away in fear when they saw the troops entering the area. Provincial military spokesman Major Zaenal Muttaqin could not confirm the report.

In North Aceh on Monday, troops shot dead three suspected members of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in the Matangkuli area, Muttaqin said. A handgun and a grenade were seized from the rebels.

Muttaqin said another rebel was also killed in a gunfight in the area late Monday.

A local GAM spokesman, Ishak Daud, said troops had killed six civilians in the Simpang Ulim area of East Aceh on Sunday and Monday. He said the killings were to avenge the death of a marine last week. Residents of the area said they had witnessed the killings. "The bodies were found buried hastily," said one.

Muttaqin said he had not received any reports about the incident but added that "it is very impossible for Indonesian armed forces soldiers to shoot civilians because their job is to protect civilians from GAM."

Residents in the Ulee Kareng area of Aceh Besar district on Monday found a male corpse bearing torture marks and gunshot wounds, a humanitarian activist said Tuesday.

An estimated 10,000 people have died since December 1976 when the GAM began its fight for an independent Islamic state in the province on the northern tip of Sumatra island. More than 300 have been killed this year alone in the energy-rich province.