Home About Contact Register Login RSS | Indonesia Version | Search News

May 25, 2006
## Fighting continues in East Timor Dili (ANTARA News) - Fighting between East Timorese security forces and renegade police flared anew Wednesday, one day after two people were killed in the latest outbreak of violence to hit the tiny, impoverished country. Fighting broke out early Wednesday in Taci-Tolu, an area on the outskirts of the capital Dili and home to a Timorese military base. "There has been heavy armed fighting in the hills of Taci-Tolu but our forces managed to corner them," an officer who identified himself as Sergeant Nixon told AFP. Auto body shop owner Januario Fideria said the sound of gunfire from Taci-Tolu was frightening residents. "It seems there's fighting there. I'm worried and it looks like I'm going to have to leave this area again," he told AFP. Unidentified people torched five houses in the Manleuana area in western Dili, an AFP journalist said. An East Timorese soldier and a lieutenant from a group of rebel police died Tuesday while five others were wounded in two separate shootouts. The government said the soldier was killed after two groups of soldiers came under attack from rebel police who had left Dili in the wake of a riot on April 28. Led by Major Alfredo Reinhado, the rebel group has remained in the hillside town of Aileu near Dili since May 4, fuelling rumours of further violence in the capital. Reinhado's recent comments had become "increasingly threatening as he spoke of bringing down the state," and the government said it had been trying to apprehend the rebels when they came into Dili, the prime minister's office said. At a press conference on Monday, Reinhado suggested that Dili residents fearful of more violence should flee the capital and called on the government not to "allow more blood to flow". A rally last month in support of 600 former soldiers who were sacked when they deserted their barracks turned into a riot after security forces opened fire on the crowd. The clashes left five people dead and at least 21,000 people fled the capital in the wake of the riot, in the worst violence to hit Asia's poorest nation since it voted from independence from Indonesia in 1999. Tuesday's violence prompted another exodus of frightened residents, with 200 people fleeing their homes to a convent on the outskirts of Dili, Sister Juaoquina from the nunnery said. Australia and New Zealand also said they were ready to send troops if they were needed to help quell the growing unrest. Australia advised its citizens to leave East Timor amid the escalating violence. President Xanana Gusmao said he had cancelled plans to travel to China on Sunday, in part due to the unrest. (*) May 24 11:50 Copyright © 2006 ANTARA Terms of Use #### Other Stories Related to This Topic Indonesia Has No Intention Of Harming E Timor People Australia Urges Citizens To Leave "extremely Dangerous" East Timor Australian Troops Awaiting Request To Enter Troubled East Timor #### Other Stories in This Category RI Intensifies Patrol Near Timor Leste Border Area Mily Chief Visits Soeharto Malaysia To Send Troops To East Timor

Copyright © 2006 LKBN ANTARA
Terms of Use