Daniel Cooney, Jakarta – Indonesia's military admitted Tuesday that some of its troops have taken sides in the long-running Christian-Muslim war in the Maluku islands.

Two days after television footage showed Indonesian troops fighting alongside Muslim militants, armed forces spokesman Rear Air Marshall Graito Usodo said some soldiers have become emotionally involved in the religious war.

"There are members of Indonesia's military who act emotionally, either because of their family names or where they come from," he said. "This is inevitable and we admit the existence of these cases."

He said that it was not the armed forces' policy to favor one side over the other in the fighting that has killed some 4,000 people since January 1999 on the group of islands 1,600 miles northeast of Jakarta.

Two people were shot and killed by snipers in fighting in the region's main city of Ambon on Tuesday, said Ibnu Alwan, a Muslim leader.

A boatload of 1,500 Maluku refugees, mostly Christians, was expected to arrive Tuesday in West Timor, the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration said. The ferry set out Monday from Ambon for the West Timor city of Kupang, 500 miles to the southeast.

In footage shot over the weekend by Associated Press Television News, Indonesian soldiers and an armored vehicle were seen providing covering fire for Muslim fighters attacking a Christian neighborhood.

Christian clerics in the Malukus have warned that elements of the Indonesian army were siding with Muslim paramilitaries who have infiltrated the region from Indonesia's main island, Java.

In an attempt to halt the bloodshed, the government imposed a state of emergency last month. But the move did little to diffuse fierce street battles over the weekend that left almost 30 people dead.

Usodo said the military intends to send another infantry battalion to the region, which would boost troop numbers to more than 11,000. But he acknowledged it was difficult for the soldiers to stop the fighting saying there are "psychological barriers when they [soldiers] need to take stern actions in their duties."

Also Tuesday, Indonesia's Minister for Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab reiterated at a parliamentary hearing that the government will not allow an international peacekeeping force into the region. On Monday, President Abdurrahman Wahid said some international assistance – such as equipment or logistical help – may be required to end the sectarian violence.

In another war-torn region of Indonesia, gunmen fired grenades at a military outpost in Aceh province. Five soldiers were injured in the attack in Peulekong village, said Maj. Sumarna, an army officer in West Aceh. Like many Indonesians, Sumarna uses only one name.

More than 30 people have died since a cease-fire came into effect on June 2 in the troubled province. Rebels have been fighting for an independent state since mid-1970s in Aceh, located on the northern tip of Sumatra island.