Indonesian air force plane crashes

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- An Indonesian air force cargo plane carrying 80 people burst into flames after hitting a fence at an airport in Aceh province.

The accident happened at 9:35 a.m. on Thursday at the airport in the industrial town of Lhokseumawe, air force spokesman Maj. Iman Wahydui told CNN.

The Hercules is one of 24 in the Indonesian air force's inventory.

None of the 80 passengers and crew aboard the C-130 was injured, Wahydui said.

A member of the Free Aceh Movement, Abdul Amridin, has claimed the rebel group was responsible for the plane catching fire.

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He told CNN there were 150 rebels at the airport at the time.

But no one at the airport could verify the claim, and Wahyudi has denied it, blaming the crash instead on faulty brakes.

Aceh has suffered a long-running separatist war that has left thousands dead.

Separatists are battling for an independent homeland in the oil and natural gas-rich region on the northern tip of Sumatra, 1,100 miles northwest of Jakarta.

More than 1,300 have been killed in fighting this year alone.

The violence has stymied government efforts to reach a peace agreement with the rebels, who have been fighting for independence since 1976.

From CNN Jakarta Bureau Chief Maria Ressa