Banda Aceh – Government troops have killed up to 752 separatist rebels in the roubled province of Aceh during the first 100 days of an all-out offensive aimed at crushing the 27-year-long insurgency, military sources said Wednesday.

During the same period, some 45 army soldiers and 13 police officers were killed while 112 troops and 60 policemen have been wounded, said Lieutenant Colonel Ditya Sudarsono, spokesman of the Aceh's martial law administration.

Ditya said that after 100 days of fighting in Aceh, the government forces had also captured 555 separatist rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and 457 rebel sympathizers had surrendered. He added that a total of 335 types of weapons were seized.

He said such figures demonstrated the success of the military operation in Aceh and hailed the local people's contributory role in terms of giving information to the security authorities about the rebels' hideouts. He accused GAM rebels of continuing to commit violence and launching terrorist activities, such as kidnappings and killings.

Meanwhile, Aceh governor Abdullah Puteh said the security situation in the restive province had improved by 45 per cent after 100 days of military operations. The governor expressed his hope that security would be completely back to normal by the six-month deadline given for the implementation of martial law in the province.