Jakarta – Tension remained high throughout villages in the eastern Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara on Wednesday after clashes between residents that left at least five people dead, police and news reports said.

Jakarta's leading Kompas daily reported that clashes between residents of Dalo village and nearby Lao village of Ruteng district on the island of Flores, broke out over the weekend until Tuesday afternoon. The situation was under control but hundreds of residents, mostly women and children, were fleeing their homes for safety, the report said.

A team of 20 police officers dispatched to the strife-hit area to overcome the clashes, a police official in the provincial capital of Kupang said. The clashes were triggered by a long dispute over custom lands in the village area, which are claimed by rival residents.