Jakarta - An army raid on a house believed to be a hideout of separatist guerrillas in East Timor left three people dead, including an Indonesian soldier, a military spokesman said yesterday. The wife and son of the owner of the house also died in the one-hour battle. An unknown number of suspected rebels escaped.
The Fretilin East Timorese pro-independence movement has been fighting against the Indonesian occupation since Jakarta sent its soldiers to East Timor in 1975 and declared the former Portuguese territory its 27th province.
