Banda Aceh – A Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist leader in Aceh Besar, Ayah Sofyan, alias Zakaria Yahya, 37, was shot dead during a raid at a rebel base in Kuta Baro village on Saturday, officials and separatists confirmed. Five other people were also killed in the latest violence in Aceh during the weekend.

Police deputy spokesman in Aceh Comr. Suparwoto said the family of Zakaria identified his body at the local clinic. Aceh Sumatra National Liberation Front (ASNLF) spokesman Sofyan Dawod later on Sunday confirmed Zakaria's death, accusing President Megawati Soekarnoputri of failing to stop military offensives in Aceh.

Meanwhile, another GAM rebel later identified as Nasrullah, 21, was shot dead in an armed clash with the Indonesian Military (TNI) in Gle Ujong village, Jaya district on Saturday morning, military spokesman Maj. Zaenal Mutaqqin said. "A semiautomatic rifle and 20 bullets were seized from the rebel," Zaenal added.

On Sunday Indonesian Red-Cross (PMI) activists evacuated two male bodies with gunshot wounds to their heads from Blang Manyang village in Sawang district, about 40 kilometers south of the North Aceh industrial town of Lhokseumawe. The two were later identified by locals as Muhammad Nasir and Mukhtar.

Earlier on Saturday, another two male bodies with gunshot wounds were evacuated by Indonesian Red-Cross (PMI) activists from Krueng Geukeuh village in Dewantara district in North Aceh to Cut Meutia Hospital in Lhokseumawe.

GAM has been waging a guerrilla war since the mid-1970s in an attempt to break from Indonesia and forge an independent Islamic state. President Megawati Soekarnoputri has flatly rejected demands for independence and instead granted special autonomy to the resources-rich province.