LAKSAMANA.Net, January 22, 2003 10:00 AM
Kopassus Behind Militia Attacks: Report
Laksamana.Net - The Army's elite Special Forces (Kopassus) is reportedly behind
recent incursions into East Timor by militia fighters.
A leaked United Nations report alleges that gangs armed and supported by Kopassus
have been entering East Timor and threatening to kill villagers and community leaders
who oppose them, the AustralBroadcastingting Corporation said Wednesday
(22/1/02).
Militiamen on January 4 raided the hamlet of Tiarlelo near Atsabe town, which is 25
kilometers from the border with Indonesian West Timor. The bandits killed one man
and left three people wounded, including two children.
At the same time, another militia group attacked Laubuno village, 14 kilometers away,
killing two people and wounding several more. Four more bodies have since been
found, leaving a death toll of seven, The Sydney Morning Herald reported Tuesday.
The use of automatic weapons and discovery of bullet shells from Indonesian-issue
SKS rifles raised fears of a return of Kopassus-ordered militia attacks.
In the wake of the second attack, Portuguese soldiers were called in to disperse the
militia after Australia reportedly rejected a request for intervention by Australian
peacekeepers.
Villagers later managed to capture between six to eight militiamen, at least one of
whom reportedly confessed to being ordered by Indonesian soldiers to carry out the
incursions.
East Timorese Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta is certain the Indonesian
government has no strategy to destabilize East Timor, but concedes that rogue
Indonesian elements might have been involved in the attacks.
Kristio Wahyono, head of Indonesia's diplomatic mission in East Timor, said he had
been assured by West Timor military commander Lieutenant Colonel Tjuk Agus and
militia leader Joao Tavares that no ex-militias had crossed the border and attacked.
"If anyone did, there were certainly no instructions from the Indonesian military,"
Wahyono was quoted as saying by the Herald.
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