Two men were stabbed to death after evening prayers in East Timor, a hospital director said, in the latest violence to disrupt the tiny nation since foreign peacekeepers arrived in May.

Four other people were injured in the fighting on Sunday night between rival gangs in the capital, Dili, Antonio Caleres, director of the Dili National Hospital, told The Associated Press.

Stone throwing between two groups of youths spread to the Aimutin Catholic Church, where windows were smashed before the unidentified men were stabbed, witnesses said. The two men were killed within blocks of the church.

East Timor, a former Portuguese colony occupied by Indonesia until 1999, plunged into crisis in April after nearly 600 soldiers were dismissed for going on strike to protest alleged discrimination.

Violence spilled into gang warfare, looting and arson that left at least 33 people dead and sent 150,000 fleeing from their homes.

Calm largely returned with the arrival of international troops and the installation of a new government, but isolated incidents still occur.