Indonesian troops killed 18 separatist rebels in a single day in the latest clashes in restive Aceh province, the military said Saturday. The rebels were killed in four separate clashes on Friday, Aceh military spokesman Ari Mulya Asnawi said. The killings made up one of the highest number of casualties suffered by the Free Aceh Movement in a single day since the government launched a major offensive to crush the rebels in May 2003.
An estimated 12,000 people - many of them civilians - have been killed since Free Aceh Movement began its insurgency in 1976, with rights groups accusing both troops and the guerrillas of widespread abuses.
Jakarta launched an operation to try to crush the rebels after peace talks broke down in May 2003.
The military says more than 2,300 rebels have been killed since then. Rights groups say many of the victims were civilians, a charge denied by the government.