Washington – ExxonMobil must face a lawsuit filed by Indonesian villagers alleging that the US oil giant is liable for killings and torture committed by military security forces, a federal judge said Wednesday.

"Plaintiffs have provided sufficient evidence, at this stage, for their allegations of serious abuse," said US Judge Louis Oberdorfer in Washington.

Eleven Indonesian villagers have accused Exxon Mobil Corporation and two of its US affiliates, Mobil Corp. and ExxonMobil Oil Corp., and its Indonesian subsidiary, ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia (EMOI) of "killings and torture committed by military security forces protecting and paid for by EMOI," the judge said in a court document.

Oberdorfer denied Exxon Mobil Corp.'s and EMOI's request to throw out the lawsuit. However, he dismissed the suit for the group's two US affiliates, Mobil Corp. and ExxonMobil Oil Corp., saying there was "insufficient" evidence against them.

The lawsuit was filed in June 2001 by the 11 villagers, using pseudonyms. The alleged atrocities took place in Aceh, near ExxonMobil's natural gas Arun Project, in the early 2000s.