20 Feared Dead in Militia Rampage at W. Timor Village
Hundreds of gun-toting militiamen staged a show of force Friday in a West Timor village, where U.N. officials fear that the militants killed 20 people despite Indonesia’s promises to impose control in the territory.
Reports of new slayings came as Indonesia’s president tried to reassure world leaders at the United Nations about the situation in West Timor, where U.N. workers said militiamen were terrorizing the populace and refugees.
U.N. officials in East Timor said there were reports that a militia rampage in Betun village on Thursday had left 20 people dead.
The reports could not be confirmed independently. U.N. workers fled West Timor after a militia-led mob stormed U.N. offices in Atambua, 30 miles north of Betun, on Wednesday, killing three foreign relief workers and three others.
Indonesian army officers said only that 11 people had died in a clash between militiamen and villagers near Betun.
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