A senior military officer claimed on Friday night that three Timor Leste refugees living in West Timor, East Nusa Tenggara, were shot dead on Friday on the border between Indonesia and Timor Leste.

"The three were shot dead on Friday morning when they were fishing in the Malibaca River in Tuiskain between Indonesia and Timor Leste," said Col. Noch Bola, chief of the Wirasakti military command overseeing military affairs in East Nusa Tenggara province.

The officer accused the Timor Leste police of shooting the three dead. Thousands of Timor Leste residents took refuge in West Timor in East Nusa Tenggara province after a popular ballot in 1999 in Timor Leste, which ended with Timor Leste's independence from Indonesia.