Armed youths battle on Dili streets

YOUTHS with machetes battled in East Timor’s capital yesterday, amid burning and looting as foreign troops bolstered a force struggling to stop the unrest that has destabilised the country.

More than 100,000 people have fled their homes, said Kym Smithies, a spokeswoman for about 30 private aid groups operating in the country.

More than 70,000 were in camps in the capital and another 30,000 had fled the city altogether, she said.