Australian files reveal deadly clashes during UN Timor operation
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-11-14 08:55
Australian soldiers shot and killed at least 14 pro-Jakarta militia and exchanged fire with Indonesian forces during UN peacekeeping operations in East Timor in 1999 and 2000, according to government documents.
The defense ministry reports obtained by The Australian newspaper under Freedom of Information laws were the first confirmation of the extent of casualties during Australia's deployment in East Timor, which began a month after the territory voted for independence from Indonesia in August 1999.
According to the documents as reported in The Australian, Australian soldiers were involved in 33 "engagements" with pro-Indonesian militia armed with automatic weapons and grenades.
The first incident occured barely two weeks after the 7,000-strong UN force (Interfet) deployed in East Timor, when several trucks carrying militia crashed through a UN roadblock near the West Timor border.
"Shots fired by Interfet, six militia casualties, 116 militia detained," the official report read, adding that the UN soldiers involved were members of Australia's elite Special Air Service (SAS) regiment.
An Interfet truck escorting militia detained in the first incident was then ambushed and in the ensuing firefight, two UN troops were wounded and two militia killed, it said.
In all, the report says at least 14 militia were killed in clashes with the UN soldiers within weeks of the peacekeepers' deployment.
"The high death toll among the pro-Jakarta forces early in the cross-border probes against the superior firepower and quality of Australian soldiers also appears to have dramatically reduced the militia's appetite for battle within weeks of the deployment," The Australian said.
The newspaper said analysis of the 33 engagements revealed in the documents showed that UN forces never initiated firefights with militia, instead only reacting to fire or incursions across the border.
The documents also confirmed that Australian troops clashed with Indonesian soldiers and police in October 1999, when the Indonesians fired on an Australian platoon over an incident caused by Australian confusion about the border demarcation between East and West Timor, it said.
One Indonesian policeman died in the incident.
No Australian soldiers died fighting in East Timor, although several were wounded during their 15-month deployment.
Australia contributed 5,000 of the 7,000 soldiers in Interfet, which was tasked with preventing violence by pro-Indonesian forces in the run-up to East Timor's independence in 2002.
當年1999年澳洲派兵去東帝文维和! 條印尼狗在邊境速意開槍越過界綫射殺UN運輸軍車個司機(當時只得一個人渣車)! 個司機係澳洲兵(其實係SAS)! SAS其中一隻手俾7.62子彈打到爆開, 脛俾了彈劏開了! 個SAS自行包傷口來自己揸架軍車衝過界缐捉條卬尼狗! 结果捉到條印尼狗一槍轟底佢及揓條屍上車回邊界缐.....當中有(唔咪好記得7-9個印尼兵俾佢在捉狗時擊敞.)
點解我會知道單舊聞! 當年我同學(正中香港土生土長香港仔WARGAME友, 現在係香港某公司做CFO)大學畢業後去當幾年兵仔! 當時派去帝文! 得知所有SAS及4RAR即時過到邊界幫揓救個SAS! 但去到只見個位SAS載住條死狗回程! SAS! 好㨢勁!
[ 本帖最後由 rho837 於 4-7-2017 13:56 編輯 ]
