Amir Tejo, Surabaya – Residents, the Army and police plunged into a war of words on Friday after a training exercise transformed a sleepy Surabaya suburb into a virtual battlefield.

Some 150 soldiers from the 516th Infantry Battalion descended on the crowded Putat Jaya Baru housing complex with guns blazing. A row has now reached a fever pitch over whether they were using live ammunition or blanks.

Also in dispute is whether residents and local police were amply warned. The training drill is being blamed for light neck and leg injuries to two residents, allegedly from ricocheting bullets.

The victim with the neck injury, Syamsul Arifin, 35, was present when the firing started around 10 a.m.

Another local resident, Taufan, said he watched the event. "I was standing about two meters away from Syamsul. Suddenly, he screamed, 'Aduh! [Ouch!],' and his neck was wounded as the soldiers kept on firing their guns."

But the Armed Forced denied those allegations. The operational chief of the Bhaskara Jaya Military Subdistrict Command, Lt. Col. Supriono, insisted the soldiers were firing blanks.

"Thus, it's impossible that we caused any injury to civilians," he said. "The weapons that were used by personnel were using blank ammunition. They even put recoil caps on the rifles to block the barrels."

The Armed Forces had asked permission from local landowners and held public education programs about the planned city combat drill with local residents, Supriono said.

Armed Forces officials said they had sent a letter of notification to police, but police denied there had been any such warning.

The chief of South Surabaya Police, Adj. Comr. Lakoni, said he had been shown a notification letter after the drill, but it was a copy "held by the military district commander." "It says that I received a copy of it. But up to now, I haven't got it yet," he said.

In addition, the Surabaya Legal Counsel Foundation also criticized the Armed Forces for holding a drill in such a crowded civilian area, saying that it violated the military's responsibility to protect residents.

"Military activity should not be performed in a peaceful region," foundation head Atoillah said. "Even in a real battle, it should not be conducted if there is a high density of civilians. There should be an area where humans are safe from gunfire," he said.