Louise Williams, Jakarta – Two Australian aid workers in East Timor were evacuated yesterday from the southern town of Suai and hundreds of local people sought refuge in churches amid bloody fighting between new paramilitary units armed by the Indonesian military and pro-independence forces.
The military commander in the territory's capital, Dili, Lieutenant-Colonel Supadi, recommended foreigners avoid travelling to East Timor "for the time being".
Reliable sources confirmed that two Australian aid workers were ordered to leave Suai after the killing overnight of at least three villagers and the disappearance of six.
The sources said the troubled province was sliding closer to "civil war" as local militia units armed by the Indonesian military clashed with independence supporters, killing and mutilating civilians and terrorising local villagers.
The deteriorating security conditions in East Timor mirror increasing violence in other parts of Indonesia. But they have wider implications for international peace talks aimed at settling the 24-year-old Timor conflict.
The Indonesian military's recent strategy of arming local East Timorese to fight the pro-independence guerilla forces has been strongly criticised by human rights groups, who say the move only intensifies the cycles of violence and abuses by pitting villagers against their neighbours.
Critics of the Indonesian military's presence in East Timor say the strategy is deliberately aimed at creating chaos and preventing a peace settlement which might lead to a future act of self-determination.
Lieutenant-Colonel Supadi confirmed the clashes in Suai, but said only one person was reported to have died. "These are clashes between pro-independence and pro-integration [Indonesia] forces. This has nothing to do with the military," he said. However, he confirmed the militia units, which are defending Indonesia's right to rule, were armed and trained by the Indonesian military.
The army commander confirmed that about 300 refugees were camping in Dili after fleeing clashes in outlying areas over the past few weeks. Local human right groups put the number who have fled the fighting at nearer 1,000.
Pro-Indonesian militia units were widely used during the Soeharto era, and have been documented as committing some of the worse human rights abuses in East Timor. After the new Indonesian President, Dr B.J. Habibie, took office last May, the militia units were disarmed and Jakarta said it was withdrawing all combat troops.
But over the past four or five months, numerous reports have said militia units were being re-armed – some with knives and other traditional weapons, some with military-issue guns.
A confidential report on the security situation in East Timor lists numerous recent attacks on pro-independence forces, as well as villagers accused of sympathising with pro-independence forces.
According to the report an armed militia gang killed and dismembered a young man near Suai over the weekend, and shot two young men on bicycles. One of the men fled, but the other was killed and his body was buried with its head protruding from the ground.
Informed sources report that pro-independence Fretilin guerillas are less and less willing to follow orders to observe a truce and may be planning more violent reprisals themselves.
In a recent interview inside Jakarta's maximum security Cipinang jail, the former Fretilin commander, Xanana Gusmao, said he would not order his forces to stop military operations while attacks continued. He warned of many more bloody incidents if the policy of arming civilians continued.