Jakarta – Troops yesterday opened fire with rubber bullets on more than 1,000 workers who were demonstrating for better pay and conditions at a steel factory in Jakarta's Bekasi district, slightly injuring 23 people, residents and police said.

One of the workers at the P.T. Gunung Garuda factory said the midday demonstration had been orderly, but that brawls broke out when some men who were not factory workers tried to join in. Police then intervened and used rubber bullets to quell the fighting, residents in the area said.

The injured were taken to the nearby Bakti Usara hospital, but police, who put the number admitted from the clash at 23, blocked news photographers from entering. Three of the injured had already been discharged they said.

Jakarta Military Commander Syafrie Syamsuddin told reporters later that the troops had simply been trying to separate the rival groups when they were bombarded by rocks. They then had no choice but to use rubber bullets, he said in a televised interview.