John Martinkus, Hatolia – Cut off by impassable roads and swollen rivers in East Timor's rugged interior, about 1,160 refugees fear for their lives as Indonesian army units and allied local militia groups move closer to their camp.

The refugees fled into the mountains two weeks ago after shooting in the town of Guico, near Maubara, a centre for pro-integration supporters, about 50 kilometres west of the capital, Dili.

According to four men who arrived in Dili last week with bullet wounds from the February 23 incident, the local district head Mr Josi Arfat opened fire on about 200 villagers after calling them to a meeting.

Mr Arfat was said to be backed by members of the armed paramilitary groups Besih Merah Puti (red and white iron) and Hali Linta, and soldiers of the Indonesian Army's 143rd Battalion, who then burnt down the houses of 39 pro-independence villagers.

The Catholic relief agency Caritas is trying to get food to the refugees, who are trapped in the village of Sare, with a flooded river on one side and the advancing paramilitary units on the other.

A resident of nearby Hatolia said two men who tried to return to Guico last Wednesday to find food were shot by Indonesian soldiers. One man died instantly and another was taken to Dili for treatment.

"The military and the paramilitary are only 1 1/2 kilometres away [from Sare]," said Mr Duarte Goncalves, who took the wounded man to Dili. We are trying to find a safe way to enter Sare to deliver food and medicine."

Mr Goncalves said many of the refugees were suffering from fevers, diarrhoea, and flu because they were not used to the cold mountain climate. Last week, a woman gave birth in the open.

In Hatolia, groups of youths armed with knives check the identity of every traveller because of fears about infiltration by pro-integration militia members. One of the youths said they were worried the trouble would spread to their area.

Shootings have been reported in the eastern towns of Los Palos and Baucau and along the waterfront in Dili.

Near the south-western town of Suai, renewed paramilitary attacks in the village of Tilomar injured eight and forced 950 villagers to seek refuge in a church and school, the Caritas office in Suai said.