Police kill nine in Aceh

Aceh has been plagued by violence for 25 years

Indonesian police have shot dead nine people in Aceh in the worst violence in the province since a truce was signed between the government and separatist rebels last week.

Police said eight of the nine were killed in a firefight, but residents told the AFP news agency that they had been shot in cold blood while sitting in a cafe.

Residents said the police had wrongly identified them as members of the Free Aceh Movement, which has been fighting for independence from Indonesia.

But police said the men were criminals killed in a crackdown on crime.

"We were forced to shoot them because the criminals were not co-operative when we were about to nail them," police chief Syafei Aksal told Reuters news agency.

'Executed'

The men were killed in a village near the city of Lhokseumawe in the north of the province.

Twenty-four soldiers were jailed this week

Mr Aksal said police had received reports the men were involved in extortion and had attacked locals.

He said that in a separate incident, a motorcycle driver identified as Udin, 26, was shot dead by police in the Muara Dua district after he tried to seize an officer's gun.

But witnesses said the man was forced to run, and then some 20 policemen chased and "executed" him, according to AFP.

Trial

The killings came just hours after 24 soldiers and one civilian were jailed for up to 10 years each for the massacre of 58 civilians in Aceh last year.

[It was] a show trial of soldiers and junior officers

Indonesia Human Rights Campaign

Indonesian authorities say the convictions show their determination to secure justice for victims of military human rights abuses.

But human rights groups on Thursday condemned the trial as flawed, and said the real culprits had escaped justice.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said military commanders, and not just their troops, should have been held accountable.

Lawyers for the soldiers said they would appeal.

Last week, the separatist Free Aceh Movement signed a truce with the Indonesian Governement following 25 years of fighting in the northern province.