Dili – East Timor dumped its defense minister Tuesday and the government showed signs of further unraveling, as desperate residents scuffled over scarce food in the capital and looters ransacked the prosecutor's office of vast numbers of files.

The more than weeklong crisis engulfing one of the world's and youngest and poorest countries showed little sign of easing, as hundreds of foreign troops sent to help failed to secure the city against machete- and torch-wielding mobs.

One senior aid agency worker slammed the troops as "invisible" on the streets, and the East Timorese government sought to answer such criticism by announcing peacekeepers would get the power to detain suspects, not just disarm them.

During a second day emergency meetings on Tuesday, the Cabinet decided that Defense Minister Rogerio Lobato should resign or be fired, said Joao Saldanha, a Cabinet member. Further changes were expected soon.

A military rebellion spurred the country's descent into chaos.

Earlier, Jose Ramos Horta, the country's Nobel peace prize-winning foreign minister, acknowledged the government had "failed miserably" to prevent the unrest.

He directed the blame toward Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, though officials present at Tuesday's meeting told The Associated Press he would be staying for the time being.

"In some areas, particularly in political dialogue in embracing everybody, in resolving problems as they arise, well, the government has failed miserably," Ramos Horta told Australian's Nine Network. "And that's why so many people are upset with the prime minister and wish him to resign," he said.

Outside the meetings, Machete-wielding mobs torched houses and ransacked government offices, including the attorney's general where they succeeded in breaking into the Serious Crimes Unit.

Files involving all of the most prominent Indonesian defendants in the 1999 massacres that followed the East Timor's bloody vote for independence, including former Gen. Wiranto, were stolen, said Attorney General Longuinhos Monteiro. Asked if they had been specifically targeted in the looting, he replied: "We don't know."

Aid workers expressed frustration at the insecurity despite the presence of more than 1,300 foreign troops from Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia after scuffles also broke out at a warehouse being used as a food distribution center.

Australian forces are "invisible," Tim Costello, chief of World Vision, told Australian Broadcasting Corp., incensed that troops in body armor and with automatic weapons seemed unable to stop the machete-wielding gangs that have terrorized the capital.

The East Timorese government acknowledged that the Australian troops were "helpless" and said they would soon be given the power to detain suspects for 72 hours. "Otherwise they can do nothing," Monteiro said.

Justice Minister Domingos Sarmento said a contingent of 120 paramilitary police from Portugal would help bolster the foreign force. The contingent's arrival was sped up because of the latest trouble, and it is expected in the country by week's end. "Hopefully in two or three days the situation will improve," Sarmento told The Associated Press.

The violence that has engulfed the city, killing at least 27 people and wounding 100 others in the past week, was triggered by the dismissal in March of 600 soldiers from the 1,400-member army.

What started with sporadic clashes between former soldiers and government troops has spiraled into open gang warfare. The level of violence has fluctuated from day-to-day, heightening the sense of instability.

On Tuesday, sporadic fighting was reported in some parts of the city and ambulances were seen ferrying injured people to a hospital. It was not clear how many had been hurt.

At a warehouse being used as a food distribution center, Australian troops struggled to keep order as thousands of residents tussled with each other to get bags of rice.

"We need more food. The situation is terrible," said Daniel Afonso, who fled his destroyed home with his parents and four children and is staying at a church refugee center. "It is dangerous to go out looking for food and the shops are closed."

Much of the antagonism on the streets revolves around accusations, often unfounded, that one person or another harbors sympathies for Indonesia, which pulled out of East Timor after its people voted overwhelming for independence in 1999 after a 24 years of often harsh rule.

The Indonesian military and its proxy militias responded by laying waste to the region, killing 1,500 Timorese and forcing 300,000 from their homes before an Australian-led force restored order.