Soldier killed by separatist rebels
Soldier killed by separatist rebels
DILI, East Timor (JP): The Armed Forces has announced that one
of its soldiers was kidnapped and murdered by Fretilin separatist
rebels in East Timor.
The body of 40-year-old Second Sgt. Titidau from Hatulia
military command was found Tuesday in a ravine 500 meters outside
Lebuto village, Ermera regency, where he was abducted by a 12-
member rebel group, Capt. Muhamad of East Timor military district
said Thursday.
On inspecting the soldier's body, three stab wounds were
found. He was buried in a military ceremony at the heroes
cemetery in East Timor's capital Dili on Tuesday.
Titidau was in a minibus heading toward Hatulia from Ermera on
Saturday, when a group of Fretilin members, armed with a Mauser
gun, a grenade and a knife, blocked the road and asked the
passengers to step out. They singled out Titidau and ordered the
rest to leave in the vehicle.
"If you dare to report this to the police, we'll kill you,"
the rebels told the passengers, the driver was quoted as saying.
None of the passengers or the driver inform the police. The
authorities learned about the abduction only after a clergyman
reported to the Ermera military district command that he saw a
group of rebels stop the Reali Jaya minibus.
Muhamad also said the rebels had earlier stopped four
officials on their way to examine a clean water project in
Hatulia subdistrict.
Berlin, Fernando S, Fisenete De Yesus Baros and Suharno, who
were staff members of the state-owned water company and the
regency development planning agency were released after the
rebels found out that they were not military personnel.
In two separate incidents in mid-September, rebels attacked
and killed five soldiers and six civilians.
According to East Timor Military Commander Salamat Sidabutar,
the first attack came when guerrillas shot up a truck carrying
villagers working on road construction. Five were killed.
The second several hours later when separatist guerrillas
attacked a military vehicle carrying soldiers and civilians. Five
soldiers and one civilian were killed in the attack. (33/09)