Lisbon – The Portuguese government said on Wednesday it was trying to verify a report of shooting incidents in the East Timorese capital of Dili involving Timorese guerrillas and Indonesian soldiers.

"We are following the situation using the usual channels, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, to try to find out what happened. Obviously we have no diplomatic representation in Dili," a foreign ministry spokeswoman told Reuters.

In a report from Sydney, the Portuguese news agency Lusa quoted Timorese rebel sources as saying that an undetermined number of Timorese might have been killed in the shooting outbreaks in Dili which began late on Wednesday night.

Lusa said the shooting was believed to have started when a group of guerrillas of FALINTIL, a group opposed to Indonesia's occupation of East Timor, attacked Indonesian military positions in Dili.

Lusa quoted Timorese rebel sources contacted from Australia as saying that Dili was "flooded with Indonesian troops" and that shooting had been heard in various parts of the city.

Lusa also quoted a Roman Catholic church source in Dili as confirming shooting incidents had taken place.

"Three people with whom I spoke by telephone were crying and said they were terrified," Lusa quoted the church source as saying.

Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony of East Timor in December 1975 and still maintains a heavy military presence there. It unilaterally annexed the territory in July 1976 in an act not recognised by the United Nations.