Six rebels killed in East Timor shootout

Six rebels killed in East Timor shootout

JAKARTA (JP): Six East Timorese rebels were killed during a
skirmish with security troops in the remote village of Gauana, 80
kilometers west of East Timor's provincial capital of Dili.

Antara news agency reported from Dili yesterday that the
rebels were killed during a 15-minute shootout, which took place
last Thursday afternoon, when a joint security team of military
troops and local people clashed with members of the Fretilin
separatists movement.

Antara was quoting district military commander Maj. Laeden
Simbolon.

Simbolon said the security troops had earlier succeeded in
driving away 29 rebels and had cornered them at the foot of a
hill in Gauana. Six of them resisted the advance of the troops,
while the rest made their escape.

He said that the army and the local people were still chasing
the rest of the fleeing rebels following Thursday's clash.

He said that prior to the operation, the military had warned
the rebels to surrender, but the warning went unheeded.

"Not only did they neglect our appeal, they even turned their
arms against us," Simbolon said, adding that no casualties
occurred among the troops or the civilians during the clash.

East Timor, a former Portuguese colony with around 650,000
people, integrated into Indonesia in 1976. But hundreds of East
Timorese people defied the integration and took up arms against
the Jakarta government. They have since been involved in various
clashes with the Indonesian Armed Forces.

Simbolon said many East Timorese people are now helping the
military to wipe out the Fretilin group, whose members now
survive by plundering villages because their numbers and
ammunition are dwindling.

The Armed Forces estimates there are still 180 rebels roaming
the jungles and rugged mountain ranges of East Timor. (ego)