Viqueque – Gang violence in an East Timorese town has left at least two men dead and forced dozens of residents and aid workers to shelter in a guarded UN compound, witnesses said Tuesday.

International relief workers and townspeople complained that Thai peacekeeping forces, based in the area, have done little to stop rival gangs from taking over Viqueque, on East Timor's southern coast.

"There is no coordination and no one has a plan to deal with what is happening," said Silva Lauffer, a foreign aid worker. UN military officers in the town weren't immediately available for comment.

Violence broke out Friday night between two youth groups, known as the Magic Monkeys and the SH gang, and continued through Tuesday. Officials confirmed two gang members were killed and about 30 houses burned. The town's electricity supply station was also burned and disabled.

Aid workers were sheltering in the town's UN compound and had been joined by dozens of frightened local people, said UN district administrator Ilda Maria da Concecicao.

Meanwhile, gangs members and men from other surrounding villages were walking the streets armed with machetes. Local people said Viqueque had a long history of gang violence.

UN officials, who are temporarily administering the territory, have admitted that crime and violence has increased in East Timor as it grapples with massive social and economic problems while preparing for full independence.

The territory is struggling with a huge task of reconstruction after being devastated by pro-Indonesian militia forces in 1999, following a UN-sponsored independence referendum.

[On March 14 the Sydney Morning Herald reported that UN police have recaptured the pro-Indonesian militia leader, Joao Fernandes, a member of the Dadurus Merah Putih (Red and White Typhoon), who was serving a 12-year term for manslaughter when he broke out of Gleno jail last week - James Balowski.]