Kiwi soldiers kill pro-Jakarta militiaman

12:00 PM

New Zealand peacekeepers in East Timor shot dead an armed militiaman late last night, the second such shooting in 10 days.

The militia member was patrolling towards the soldiers around 4.5 km (three miles) north of the New Zealand battalion base at Suai when he was shot, the New Zealand Defence Force said in a statement issued in Wellington today.

No New Zealanders were injured in the shooting.

Brigadier Lou Gardiner said the New Zealand soldiers initiated the contact when the militia member approached their position.

"The militia member was clearly identified by his actions in the manner that he was carrying his small arms weapon. He was then engaged by our soldiers," Gardiner said.

The New Zealand battalion has been aware of a group of militia moving from east to west within their area of operations near the Timor border during the past week, he said.

"Three sightings of militia members close to the incident site were reported to the battalion during the day."

Radio New Zealand reported that the militiaman was carrying an assault rifle and a grenade rifle and was 20 metres from the soldiers when he was shot.

Gardiner declined to confirm these details.

On September 26, New Zealand soldiers fired on and killed a militiaman when three or four militia advanced on their observation post near the border. There have been a series of gunfights along the rugged border zone between East and West Timor, where a U.N. peacekeeping force is stationed.

Two peacekeepers - a New Zealander and a Nepalese - have been killed as have several militia.

The militias, who laid waste to East Timor after it voted for an end to Indonesian military occupation last year, are now based in West Timor and make regular incursions into East Timor.

- REUTERS

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UN Transitional Administration in E Timor