Pro-Jakarta militiamen, allowed free rein by Indonesian police, went on the rampage yesterday firing shots and clashing with pro-independence supporters around the UN headquarters in East Timor.
Witnesses said at least five people died in the latest violence, which reduced the nerve center of the United Nations operation in East Timor to chaos, with about 400 refugees, UN staff and journalists crowding into the compound.
Just outside the UN gates, pro-Indonesian militiamen hacked a man to death with machetes and some witnesses said the final death toll could be much higher than five.
The fresh violence followed Monday's UN-run ballot, expected to give a landslide victory for independence in the bloodied former Portuguese territory.
Police, conspicuous by their absence initially, eventually brought the fighting under control by late evening, though some militiamen were still standing around parts of the town in small groups.
Many of the city lights were out. Some houses, set alight in the day, were still smoldering.
The latest clash with independence supporters underscores mounting international fears that the violence could spiral out of control in East Timor.
Indonesia insists it has the situation under control and a foreign ministry spokesman said there was no need to send in foreign troops to help.
"As I see it, the situation in East Timor has not reached a condition which needs foreign troops. We are still capable of overcoming the situation," foreign ministry spokesman Sulaiman Abdulmanan said.
Indonesian security forces have repeatedly stood by while violence flared and its military has clearly been giving support to the militias.
Even though Indonesia has 15,000 troops and police in the territory, there are very few police patrols in the capital Dili.
Fears of erupting violence have quickly darkened the international enthusiasm which greeted the huge turnout for the ballot. About 99 percent of the electorate voted.
The result is due within a week though it will still have to be ratified by Indonesia's People's Consultative Assembly, which meets from October.