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| Southeast Asia | |
| East Timor descends into chaos | |
| 2006-05-29 | |
| The number of dead in the latest wave of violence in East Timor has risen to at least 20, with more than 50 people wounded, hospital officials in the capital Dili said Monday. Australia sent about 1,300 troops to help quell the unrest that began in March, when the government fired 600 soldiers who went on strike against alleged discrimination in the military. East Timor's cabinet was holding a crisis meeting Monday as thousands of residents fled the burning capital and rival gangs prowled the streets armed with machetes, The Associated Press reported. The cabinet meeting came amid growing speculation that the government could be near collapse or that parliament would be dissolved. Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has called the violence an organized plot to overthrow him. The United Nations What began in recent months as a schism within the armed forces spilled over during the past week to the general population, which is divided on geographical lines of east and west, or those perceived to have been pro-Indonesian against those who wanted independence, AP reported. Rival gangs torched homes and battled with machetes for a third day on Sunday. Fire across the city filled the sky with smoke overnight and into Monday, and the streets were strewn with smoldering debris while Black Hawk helicopters roared overhead.
Fighting erupted last week when renegade soldiers attacked unarmed police who were being escorted to safety by U.N. staff, leaving nine dead. Dili's Becora hospital said the toll had risen to 20 by Sunday. About 27,000 East Timorese sought refuge at shelters, said Robert Ashe, regional representative for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Sunday that Australian troops had secured Dili's main airport, the U.N. headquarters and police complex and the country's parliament and presidential palace. Howard said troops confiscated numerous knives, swords and guns from gangs in the areas under Australian control. "Nobody should assume that it's just a simple walk-in-the-park military operation," he said. | |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |