Jakarta – Indonesian troops may have killed as many as five people and wounded 141 when they opened fire on a crowd which raised a separatist flag in Irian Jaya province, church and human rights sources said Tuesday.

But local military commander, Colonel Agus Edyono, who confirmed that live ammunition had been used as well as rubber bullets, said although he had heard of deaths, he could not confirm the reports. "I received numerous calls from people informing me of the death of several people," Edyono told AFP by phone from the island of Biak where the shooting took place in a planned military operation involving some 200 marines, army and airforce early Monday. "So far we have no confirmed reports of deaths," he said.

Edyono said a shortage of medical supplies was making it difficult to treat the wounded, but doctors were doing their best with limited resources to care for 20 people still in the local polyclinic. A resident told AFP that 32-year-old Orboy was killed by a gunshot wound to the head, but he was unsure whether it was a live or a rubber bullet.

"The bullet went into his brain. I would think it was a live bullet," he said, adding that Orboy's body had been returned to his village in northern Biak. "Two of the four victims who are now in critical condition also seemed as if they had been shot with live bullets. One's thigh was completely shattered, and the other's intenstines were messed up as the bullet went through his lower back," the source said.

Paul Baut of the Legal Aid Institute in the provincial capital of Jayapura said continuing reports telephoned by residents from Biak put the total number of dead at five. He said of the 141 people injured, more than 20 were taken to the local polyclinic. The resident said of those remaining in the hospital Tuesday, four were in critical condition and 17 had been seriously injured.

More than 100 people had been arrested Monday and by late Tuesday 25 people remained in detention, including the alleged ringleader, a local civil servant named Felix Yacob Karma, he said. "These people were not demanding reform," Edyono said. "They wanted a separate state. We, and civic leaders, had pleaded with the group to take down the flag since July 2, but they refused."

Police said on Monday that the flag raised over the port area in Biak had been the "Morning Star" flag of West Papua. "They put the flag on top of a water tower at the port, and kicked away the ladder so that no one could take it down, then they forced people to salute it, sing songs with them and donate money," Edyono said. He added only 50 to 70 people had been directly involved, not 700 as reported by the state Antara news agency.

"Generally rubber bullets were used, but when some of the troops fired in the air, ricochets bounced off the walls, and the doctor confirmed they were ricochets because the bullets were bent," he said. "We had tried all persuasive means. We gave them time, and asked priests and local public figures to persuade them to go home. In the end the local government and the priests decided to leave it up to the military," he said.