A soldier, four suspected separatist rebels and a village chief have been killed in the latest violence in Indonesia's Aceh province, the military and police said.

An army sergeant and a rebel were killed in a gunfight at Hagu Bara Laut near Lhokseumawe in North Aceh on Wednesday, said Aceh military spokesman Major Zaenal Muttaqin.

In another incident police gunned down three rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) at Paya Seumantok village in West Aceh on Wednesday, said police spokesman Adjunct Senior Commissioner Dadek Achmad.

Achmad said a village chief in Bireuen district was found dead with gunshot wounds and torture marks on Wednesday. He blamed GAM for the murder.

The violence happened as three officials from the Switzerland-based Henry Dunant Centre, which has mediated peace talks between the Indonesian government and GAM, paid a two-day visit to the province.

The three – British General Rupert Smith, Andrew Marshall and David Gorman – are assessing the situation to establish a framework for "cessation of hostilities," which was agreed at the last peace talks in Geneva in May. They arrived on Wednesday.

In May Jakarta and GAM leaders agreed to work towards a ceasefire to pave the way for democratic elections in the province in the north of Sumatra island.

The three met separately with a joint committee monitoring ceasefires in Aceh and GAM negotiators on Wednesday. Officials refused to comment afterwards.

On Thursday they were due to hold talks with the provincial military and police chiefs before returning to Jakarta.

The Indonesian government last year granted special autonomy to Aceh, allowing it to implement partial Islamic Sharia law and retain a much greater share of its oil and gas revenues.

At peace talks in Switzerland, GAM has agreed to discuss autonomy as a starting point for negotiations but says it had not dropped demands for full independence.

More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in the conflict since 1976, including over 500 this year alone.