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Major military operations underway

Source
Tapol - November 20, 1998

We have been informed by Solidamor in Jakarta that major military operations are underway in sub-district Alas, district of Manufahi. The Indonesian military have launched these operations in retaliation for the capture of two of their men who are being held prisoner by FALINTIL, following an attack on the local military command, Koramil, in Alas. They are also retaliating because FALINTIL guerrillas succeeded in seizing 36 weapons and ammunition from the Koramil post.

Alas is on the south coast of East Timor in the central sector. It is covered by thick forest, an area suitable for guerrilla operations and highly suspect by the forces of occupation.

During the current operations, a number of local people have been captured, particularly young men with long hair who are deemed to have spent time with the guerrillas in the bush. Solidamor has not yet been able to confirm reports of killings.

A Dutch newspaper, Algemeene Dagsblad, reported today that 70 to 100 people had been killed in Alas but later reports suggested that the death toll is probably much lower. Information is difficult to acquire because the area has been sealed off.

These same sources say that major reinforcements have been brought into the area by sea by the Indonesian army, including men from battalions 744 and 745, from Brimob, the elite police corps, as well as Garuda troops (probably Kostrad), and other police units.

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