Print this page Dili burns as boys riot in streets of hate and anarchy By IAN McPHEDRAN 26may06 "THEY were just kids, maybe 9 to 16 years. They waved at me and then came back and torched the place." Australian aid worker Daryl Mills couldn't believe what he was seeing. Young boys rampaging through his neighbourhood looting and burning houses. This was anarchy. As the day progressed, things became worse, with gun battles raging throughout the town. Under plumes of smoke from burning houses the various factions of the East Timorese police and defence force exchanged fire. By late in the day a number of police were dead and many more were wounded. For Mr Mills from Melbourne it was a huge shock. As he told of his horror night and morning, East Timorese police, some of them masked and reminiscent of the 1999 militias, ran through the neighbourhood firing into the air and seeking the arsonists. Gunshots from heavy automatic weapons and pistols rang out as they ran through the streets. Fearful residents cowered behind steel fences or boarded-up windows. Late in the day a convoy of four-wheel-drives arrived at the international airport carrying about 60 ex-pat Australians with tears in their eyes and mothers hugging children close to them. They were escorted through the airport by Australian military trainers who had spent the past two days watching this country disintegrate. Finally at 4.10pm, help arrived in the shape of a huge RAAF C130 Hercules. As it taxied to a stop on the runway, the rear ramp lowered and heavily armed SAS soldiers spilled out. Behind them commandos fanned out to secure the perimeter. After that was done, Australia's special envoy Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie with his SAS protection team marched into the terminal. For the cheering crowd it was a moment to savour. For 25-year-old Brazilian missionary Elienae Moura it was a blessed relief. He has been in Dili for two years and this is the worst violence he has witnessed. "We have been scared for six weeks. We hope they will control the situation." For hundreds of Dili residents the arrival means they will be able to return home once the main force secures the capital. Dili was largely deserted by lunchtime yesterday as firefights raged. The full toll of dead and injured is not yet known.
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