Robert Go, Jakarta – The Indonesian military (TNI) has escalated its security crackdown on rebels of the Free Aceh Movement with the dispatch on Christmas of three battalions of the newly-formed elite Raiders Unit to the troubled province.

The crack troops – each Raider is touted to be equivalent to three normal soldiers because of the improved training and weaponry – will be tasked with hunting down leaders of the separatist movement who have waged an insurrection against Jakarta rule for the last three decades.

The three battalions comprise some 2,300 soldiers who have received special counter-insurgency and 'crisis-situation' training over the last year.

Indonesia's seven other Raiders battalions would be deployed 'as needed' to Aceh next year, said army chief of staff Ryamizard Ryacudu.

He predicted that "security conditions in Aceh will vastly improve" after the arrival of the crack troops. "They will be very effective in Aceh. They're well equipped to deal with the problems there," said the general.

During a ceremony to commemorate the 58th anniversary of the Indonesian army on Monday, Lieutenant-General Bibit Waluyo, head of the Kostrad special forces, told the Raiders battalions: "You must complete your missions as you have been given the means, tactics and methods that would be needed during your training. It has been said that one of you is the same as three normal soldiers. You must prove this."

The beefing up of the army's presence in Aceh, Indonesia's northernmost province on the tip of Sumatra Island, takes place seven months after Jakarta declared martial law in May.

It is the second phase of the military operation announced by TNI chief Endriartono Sutarto last month after Jakarta extended its initial martial law declaration by six months, putting Aceh under military control when Indonesians are scheduled to vote next April.

Gen Sutarto said the second phase of its operation would involve "new personnel and improved weaponry and strategy". He also announced the appointment of a commander of the new Aceh Military Operation, Brigadier-General George Toisutta.

With the elections fast approaching next year, the government and the military are desperate to show signs that troops have been able to stay in control of the province.

The military said that of the estimated 5,000 rebels, more than 2,000 had been captured or had surrendered, and 1,200 had been shot dead in the last seven months.