At least eight people have been killed in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh since Monday.

Authorities in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, have say that four suspected separatist rebels were killed during police operations in the north of the province.

The local police chief, Lt-Col Syafei Aksal said the four men were members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) which has been fighting for independence from Indonesia.

"We ordered them to surrender, but we came under fire," he said, adding that some other members of GAM managed to flee.

But a spokesman for the rebel group, Ismail Syahputra, denied the police account, saying that ordinary villagers had been killed by soldiers.

Fight for independence

At least four other people - including three civilians and a soldier - were killed earlier in the week in West Aceh, when the rebels clashed with security forces.

The soldier was killed when a security convoy was ambushed by unidentified gunmen.

The civilians - suspected of being separatist rebels - were killed by the police.

Rebels in Aceh have been fighting Indonesian government forces since the 1970s for independence.

More than 5,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

A referendum on Islamic law has been offered by the government but political and religious leaders in the province are demanding independence or autonomy.

President Abdurrahman Wahid visited the province two weeks ago and promised peace but his visit has failed to stem the tide of violence.