Indonesian Muslim women urge "Peace for Aceh" during a protest in Jakarta

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia, June 14 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The Indonesian military reported Saturday, June 14, killing 15 separatists over the past 24 hours, asserting it was pushing them into a corner.

Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Yani Basuki said troops killed 12 Free Aceh Movement (GAM) fighters in clashes in several districts on Friday.

"We are continuing to besiege GAM bases and push them into a corner," Basuki told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

He said, however, that the separatists were "highly mobile," capitalizing on their familiarity with the rugged and hilly terrain.

Special forces troops killed six GAM fighters in Kampung M3 village in East Aceh Friday, the spokesman said, adding that six others were killed in two separate clashes in Aceh Besar district.

Soldiers said they found three separatists bodies Saturday after they fired artillery on a suspected GAM base at Juli in Bireun district the previous day.

Residents Moved

On Friday troops moved thousands of villagers from their homes in Juli during the attack on the suspected separatist base there and took them to another village east of Bireuen where tents had been prepared for them.

As of Saturday afternoon 13,000 residents had moved and more were streaming into the camps.

The armed forces on May 19 launched a large offensive aimed at wiping out separatist GAM fighters and imposing a six-month martial law in the province.

Some 40,000 troops and police are involved in the operation to crush about 5,000 GAM separatists who have been fighting for independence since 1976.

An Indonesian Red Cross volunteer, who declined to be named, said he removed two bodies in civilian clothes found at Lhoong in Aceh Besar on Saturday.

A team from Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said Friday in Jakarta that children have been among the victims of extra-judicial killings during the offensive.

Komnas HAM said witnesses could not clearly identify who committed the killings because the incident happened in early-morning darkness. But the gunmen wore military-style uniforms and had rifles, it said.

It said it also planned to further investigate the report, received from its representatives in Aceh, that dozens of people are buried in Nisam sub-district near Bireuen.

The military has said it is also checking the report.

Official military figures mid-week put at 175 the number of separatists killed, along with 24 soldiers and four policemen, since the military operation began. The military has put the civilian death toll at 18.

On Tuesday, June 10, at least seven soldiers were killed and seven others wounded, the military's worst casualty toll since the unleashing of its offensive against Aceh separatists.

In May, Indonesian troops launched a major offensive against GAM and martial law was declared in the province.

GAM has been fighting for the independence of Aceh since 1976, in a conflict which has claimed thousands of lives.