Louise Williams, Jakarta – Five people were reportedly killed and scores injured after riot troops and tanks rammed student lines in at least three locations in Jakarta, but tens of thousands of protesters armed with rocks and sticks continued to ring the parliament in a tense stand-off late last night. An ABC TV crew was beaten with sticks by security forces. They were not seriously injured, but their camera was smashed.

Witnesses said tanks charged thousands of students in the main city thoroughfare and opened fire with rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon, forcing protesters into the campus of the Atma Jaya Christian University. A witness reported six truckloads of riot troops charging a crowd of about 15,000 students and bystanders, firing into the crowd from their trucks.

Witnesses said three people – two students and a bystander – had been killed and at least 23 injured in the assault. Local radio reported that troops killed two residents at Chawang in East Jakarta, where local people were also facing riot troops. The radio said that at least one Indonesian journalist had been shot dead.

At the elite housing area and shopping area of Senayan, at least 30 university students were shot by riot troops and hundreds more beaten. Red Cross teams were treating victims on classroom floors at the nearby Moestopo University. About 8,000 students were still facing riot troops outside and student representatives said they were meeting to decide whether to attempt a new push towards parliament.

The protesters were calling for President B.J. Habibie to step down and challenging the legitimacy of the People's Consultative Assembly, which was meeting to draw up new political laws for the country. President Habibie was due to preside over the closing ceremony of a four-day "special session" of the assembly.

On the western approach to the parliament thousands of angry local residents were walking towards police lines, gathering rock and sticks, and shouting insults at security forces.

As well as last night's reported deaths, two students are believed to have died yesterday morning from injuries sustained on Thursday night. One police officer was also reported to have died after Thursday's violence and at least 120 students were being treated in hospital.

The 1,000-member People's Consultative Assembly was due to sign 12 decrees late last night which will dismantle Mr Soeharto's authoritarian political system and make way for democratic elections next year.

However, student protesters and thousands of members of the public who have joined the marches this week are challenging the legitimacy of the assembly, because it was formed under Mr Soeharto and is dominated by his former political allies. Early this morning local radio reported student leaders were calling on members of the public to join them in central Jakarta to make a new attempt to march on parliament. The reports put the crowd at 100,000.

In Ujung Pandang, the capital of the island of Sulawesi, some 200 students yesterday protested against the assembly meeting by occupying an airport runway, officials said.