Troops of the multinational force in East Timor were yesterday involved in the first armed clash in the border area with Indonesian troops in the vicinity, both sides said. Interfet said in Dili that it came under fire in an area near the town of Motaain and returned fire in self defence, possibly wounding two people but taking no casualties.
The Indonesian high command in Jakarta was unavailable for immediate comment on the incident, but the state news agency Antara said the Australian troops fired on a border outpost killing one policeman, and injuring three people, one a civilian.
Antara said no shots were fired by Indonesian forces, but an AFP journalist in Dili said it appeared from Portuguese television film of the incident that from the way some 10 Australian troops patrolling on each side of a road suddenly dived for cover, they had come under fire first.
While Antara said five Australian armoured personnel carriers had crossed a bridge near the post, a French journalist, Bruno Philip of Le Monde, who was with the patrol of 60 men at the time, said the personnel carriers "made a conscious decision not to cross the bridge". On a Portuguese television tape of the incident, Australian and Indonesian commanders at the scene could be heard both yelling "Hold your fire" in the Indonesian language. It was then, Philip said, the firing which had lasted about five minutes ceased and officers from both sides got together and compared maps of the area.
On the Portuguese tape, Maj David Kalcullin of Australia said he had spoken to an Indonesian officer who said the Indonesian side fired first. "We were still 100 metres on our side of the border and he acknowledged his troops fired first," Maj Kalcullin said.
An official statement issued by Interfet after the incident said: "Interfet did not cross the border into West Timor and did not fire the first shots." The statement identified the Indonesian officer who conferred with the Australian officers as Lieut-Col Sidjid Yuwyno.
The Antara report in Jakarta said Interfet attacked the Indonesian border post inside West Timor, killing one policeman and wounding three others.
Citing two eyewitness, it said about 120 Interfet personnel attacked the border post in Motaain, passing well into the Indo nesian sub-district of Tasifeto Timur shortly after noon.
The witnesses said the Interfet soldiers had come in five arm oured personnel carriers and crossed a bridge over the Motaain river when they fanned out and began shooting. The witnesses, quoted by Antara, said there was no exchange of fire.
A member of the Indonesian elite police unit, Brimob, identified as Mr Ari Sudibyo, was killed in the attack while two other policemen, both first sergeants, and a civilian, were injured.
The district police said that Mr Sudibyo died from a chest wound and the three injured were rushed to a hospital in Atambua, the main town in the Belu district that covers Tasifeto Timur.