Soldiers in Indonesia have killed two suspected rebels in the province of Aceh.

A police official says the two Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels were shot dead after they attacked soldiers investigating reports of blackmail by GAM in the Pidie district. Soliders confiscated an automatic rifle from the scene.

GAM representative Amri bin Abdul Wahab has confirmed the incident but denies the two rebels were carrying automatic weapons. Mr Wahab says soldiers had earlier burned three shops in a market in Pidie district in a retaliation attack over a separate incident.

Violence in the troubled province has decreased sharply since Jakarta and GAM signed a peace pact last December, but each side has accused the other of violating the ceasefire.

More than 10,000 people have been killed in the violence in Aceh since the GAM began its fight for independence in 1976.