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)