Jakarta – Three members of the pro-independence civilian guard in Indonesia's troubled Irian Jaya province have been shot dead and at least 18 other people injured, including a policeman, a report and residents said Sunday.

Police shot dead three members of the Papua Taskforce and injured 17 other members on Saturday as they attempted to escape a police post in the province's main Merauke district, the district chief Benyamin Simatupang told the state news agency Antara.

One policeman was stabbed in the violence and flown to hospital in Jayapura, the province's main city. The 17 injured taskforce members were treated at the general hospital in Merauke town, on the southern part of Irian Jaya near the border with neighbouring Papua New Guinea.

Some 25 members of the Papua taskforce had been detained at the police post since Friday following violence at the main market in Merauke. They attempted to flee on Saturday and were shot after warning shots were fired, the head of the Irian Jaya police operation control, Senior Superintendent Kusnadi told Antara.

A Protestant Church official in Merauke, who requested he not be named, told AFP he had received reports that three local youths had been shot dead and four others wounded by police. He said the violence at the market was sparked after members of the taskforce beat up a policeman in a jealous incident over a girl from the local Marin tribe, and policemen returned in force. The church source said the area was calm on Sunday, although police were heavily guarding most government offices and the market.