Banda Aceh – Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province are demanding a ransom for three kidnapped oil company workers, the military said Wednesday.

The three Indonesians, working for a sub-contractor of the state energy firm Pertamina, have been held since March 16 by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), said military spokesman Major Zaenal Muttaqin. Muttaqin said the three had been driving to the Pertamina-owned Rantau oil and gas field in the Sukaramai area of East Aceh when they were abducted at gunpoint.

He said rebels had contacted Pertamina officials in East Aceh and demanded a ransom of two billion rupiah (around 208,000 dollars). A Pertamina spokesman in Jakarta, Ridwan Nyabaik, confirmed the hostage-taking but said officials from the Rantau field had not mentioned any ransom demand. The military said Pertamina only reported the kidnapping to them on Monday.

Meanwhile six suspected GAM rebels have been killed in separate incidents in the past two days, the military and police said. Two men were shot dead in the Gle Blang Malo area of Pidie district on Tuesday, said district military chief, Lieutenant Colonel Supartodi.

Troops on Tuesday killed another rebel in Pidie's Gle Seunong area, he added. On Monday soldiers shot dead three rebels in the Darul Makmur area of West Aceh, said distric police spokesman Dadek Ahmad.

An estimated 10,000 people have died since December 1976 when 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.