Deadly violence returned to East Timor last week, and militias backed by Indonesia's army are clearly to blame.

More than 1,000 civilians were killed, the United Nations estimates, as militias backed by the military rampaged across the territory and destroyed much of its infrastructure.

The city had been mostly emptied last month when local militias backed by the military terrorized the population.

The violence, Darfuris say, started long ago but worsened in 2003, when militias backed by the Arab-Islamist government razed villages.

"The militia after the explosions, backed by the police, raided the Sunni houses in the area and pulled people outdoors and killed them," it said.

In both cases, militias backed by the Indonesian military or elements of the military itself were suspected.

Hundreds of people are reported to have been killed by anti-independence militias backed by elements of the military.

He and his co-defendants maintain that the campaign was military in nature, to support Iraqi troops who were trying to suppress Kurdish militias backed by Iran.

But militias backed by the Indonesian Army have unleashed a new campaign of violence aimed at thwarting independence.

Tightly woven networks of militias backed by the government, the areas have been largely off-limits to American forces.