Jakarta – Six people including four alleged members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have been shot dead in Aceh despite an expected peace deal, AFP reported.

Troops shot dead the four members during a 15-minute firefight at Seuneubok Teungah in West Aceh on Sunday afternoon, said Aceh military spokesman Maj. Edi Fernandi. No soldiers were hurt and two AK-47 rifles were seized from the victims, he said.

About five GAM members ambushed a patrol of six soldiers on Sunday and wounded one of them at Bandar Masin, on the outskirts of Lhokseumawe town, he said.

Residents said one civilian was killed by stray bullets and one woman wounded. Local GAM spokesman Tengku Jamaica denied that the ambush was carried out by his men.

"The shooting took place between TNI [Indonesian armed forces] members and Brimob [paramilitary police] members," Jamaica said.

Meanwhile gunmen wearing military fatigues killed a village chief near the provincial capital Banda Aceh on Sunday, residents said. They said five gunmen beached a boat near the chief's hut, shooting him dead and setting fire both to his hut and to others nearby. The chief's body has not been found.

An estimated 10,000 people have died in the province since the start of GAM's struggle for an independent state in 1976.