Darwin – Indonesian troops and pro-Jakarta militiamen were Sunday attacking thousands of refugees massed in the East Timorese town of Dare, a spokesman for the UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) said here.

"This is once again a major crime against the East Timorese people," spokesman David Wimhurst told a press conference, appealing for international action to halt the violence. "There is an urgent need for armed intervention to prevent these attacks continuing.

"The international community have to decide what they will do to prevent these ongoing killings. Action is needed urgently," added Wimhurst, saying he had spoken directly to two people in Dare, nine kilometres (six miles) south of the East Timor capital of Dili, and received other accounts via relatives of witnesses in Australia. "They are still slaughtering people in East Timor and the international community has not acted."

One man had called his niece in Sydney to tell her of the Dare attack, he said. "Right now, he is on top of the mountain over Dare," Wimhurst added. "What he said is he could hear shots being fired below him.

"He said there are thousands of refugees down there. He can hear the people screaming in fear. "And he said the TNI [Indonesian armed forces] are advancing up the mountain killing everybody."

Wimhurst said there were "thousands" of refugees in the town where church workers have been aiding refugees. UNAMET last week estimated at least 30,000 people had massed in Dare amid escalating violence by pro-Jakarta militias.

He added UNAMET was also concerned the refugees in Dare were running short of food, quoting Sister Anne Forbes of the Sisters of Mercy, as telling him the little food left was being given only to women and children. "There is an urgent need to get food in there by the most speedy means possible," the spokesman said.