Banda Aceh – Indonesian Red Cross workers have removed 194 bodies from conflict zones in the western province of Aceh since a military offensive against rebels there began last month, the Red Cross said on Wednesday.

Separately, residents found the tied-up body of a state television employee who had been missing for weeks in a river near the local capital of Banda Aceh late on Tuesday. The military says that as of Tuesday at least 242 people have been killed in Aceh, including 216 rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and 26 members of the security forces.

It did not mention civilian deaths in its latest count but had previously said at least five civilians had been killed. Rebel sources say scores of civilians and hundreds of government troops have been killed.

The Red Cross statement did not comment on how many of the bodies it had removed were believed to be of rebels or of civilians, nor on who was believed to have killed them. Such an investigation is not its job, it says. The military says it is doing its best to avoid civilian deaths and human rights violations.

Found dead

In Banda Aceh, military spokesman Firdaus Komarno told Reuters that on Tuesday night locals found the body of TVRI production staff member M. Jamal, who had been missing for almost a month.

"He had been missing since the first days of martial law. We don't know who made him disappear. Some reports have said GAM took him and others have blamed the security forces. What's clear is that he was found dead in a river last night," he said.

Witnesses said Jamal's body was already decomposed when discovered and his eyes and mouth were covered by duct tape. They also said his hands were tied with nylon cord and a noose connected to a boulder was fastened around his neck.

The military says there is no systematic campaign of abuse and that individual cases reported to it are investigated and the guilty punished. Last week, Indonesia's semi-independent human rights commission said there were strong indications civilians had been deliberately targeted in extra-judicial killings. But an investigation by the commission of some of those charges has yet to start, although a commission member in Jakarta said a field investigation team might be sent next Wednesday.

The military offensive in Aceh began on May 19 after talks between Jakarta and the rebels collapsed. The rebels have held out for independence instead of the special autonomy Jakarta was willing to offer to the oil and gas rich province.

Resource-rich Aceh is one of two major separatist hot spots in Indonesia's sprawling archipelago. The other is in Papua at the eastern end of the country.