Louise Williams, Jakarta – The Indonesian military will draw more East Timorese into the war against the pro-independence Fretilin guerillas by creating village militias, a move which could escalate tensions in the troubled province by pitting one group of East Timorese against another.

The East Timorese commander, Colonel Tono Suratman, said five to 10 people in small rural villages would be armed with rataan sticks and catapults and trained by regular Indonesian military forces to fight against the pro-independence Fretilin forces.

"If they use other weapons [such as knives and guns] then that is their own initiative," he said in an interview with the Herald. But he insisted that the military would not provide guns.

Colonel Suratman said the militia units had been requested by villagers who felt threatened by Fretilin forces, which recently executed three soldiers and snatched guns and ammunition in the southern region of Alas.

The move indicates that tensions are again rising, and appears to diminish hopes of an early peace settlement. The resignation of former president Soeharto in May raised hopes for an end to the 23-year-old conflict, but clashes over the past few weeks and no real breakthroughs at the negotiating table suggest the optimism may have been premature.

"This is what the people want – through their local representatives they have asked the military to come and train them to defend their villages," Colonel Suratman said. The statement, however, contradicts a recent call by the influential head of the Catholic Church in East Timor, Bishop Carlos Belo, for the immediate withdrawal of all Indonesian troops.

Local units were armed and trained for three years beginning in 1989, pitting East Timorese against East Timorese. Most East Timorese are Catholic and differ ethnically, culturally and linguistically from Indonesia's Muslim majority, which dominates the military.

According to confidential military documents leaked to the international press in October there are about 4,000 members of paramilitary groups operating in East Timor, in 13 squads.

A statement from the pro-independence East Timorese International Support Centre said: "A 'people's defence force' is just a cruel excuse to create another paramilitary group in East Timor. This force will be used by the armed forces to do their dirty work, and being out of uniform they are unaccountable for the abuses they might commit.

"For years the Indonesian military has armed, trained and worked with gangs and paramilitary groups to sow terror and commit human rights abuses in East Timor."

The statement said non-uniformed paramilitary squads had been used to terrorise supporters of the pro-independence resistence and had been linked to numerous extra-judicial executions and disappearances.

During a recent visit to East Timor, church sources said members of paramilitary squads had to prove their allegiance to Indonesia. "To do that they had to act against their own people. They became the bullies, often were the ones who did the beating, the killings, the rapes," the source said.

Church sources said existing paramilitary squads were disarmed when Mr Soeharto stepped down in May, but were rearmed in September.