Security to be tightened along East Timor border
Security to be tightened along East Timor border
Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara
Indonesia and the United Nations Peace Keeping Force (UNPKF)
have agreed to tighten security along the border of East Timor in
the wake of alleged pro-Jakarta militia attacks operating in both
countries, a military officer said on Friday.
The measure will include increasing border patrols and
building more police posts along the border.
Kupang Military Commander Col. Inf. Moeswarno Moesanip said
the agreement followed a meeting between the Indonesian Military
(TNI), the police and UNPKF last Wednesday.
"There is an agreement between the Indonesian Military (TNI)
and the UNPKF to tightened border security to avoid infiltration
from Timor Leste to West Timor and vice versa," he told The
Jakarta Post.
Moeswarno said the agreement aimed at stifling the movement of
alleged pro-Indonesia militiamen operating in both countries.
Lax security has enabled militiamen to cross the border and
evade detection.
TNI has deployed around 600 personnel along the border.
Moeswarno, however, said he had at his disposal two
battalions, which amounts to some 2,000 soldiers. He did not say
whether the agreement required him to call on additional troops
for border security.
He said UNPKF told him that militiamen posed a threat to
stability in East Timor, whose population is coping with economic
hardship nearly four years after independence from Indonesia.
He added that the military had captured six suspected
militiamen in the border town of Atambua who may have been
involved in last month's attack on a bus. One person died and
three others sustained injuries in the ambush.
The ambush near the East Timor town of Ribeira de Loes came a
day after the UNPKF deputy commander Brig. Gen. Justin Kelly said
pro-Indonesia militia had launched a "terrorist strategy" to
destabilize East Timor.
In January, five civilians were killed in an attack in East
Timor, which eyewitnesses blamed on militiamen.
East Nusa Tenggara Police chief Brig. Gen. Jacki Uly said the
police would increase its guard posts along the border.
He said that aside from restricting the movement of the
militia group, the police must also stop illegal border crossings
by East Timorese.
An immigration official said earlier this month that people in
both countries often crossed the border without carrying
passports.