Speaking during a doorstop media conference on Wednesday outside Presidential Palace in Dili, Lere Anan Timur, the Major General of Timor-Leste Timor Defense Force (F-FDTL), singled out Kuluhun Village, that had been under siege from youth martial arts gangs leaving a population feeling “trauma and panic.”

Lere said martial arts gang provoking sustained instability across Timor-Leste were  degrading a country too many had fought hard for independence in.

“Timorese people have to love your country. You have to show your nationalism to continue to develop this nation.”