How did Indonesia Invade Suai Covalima?

Indonesia invaded East Timor in December 1975. The invasion was one of the most extensive military operations in East Timor since the Japanese invasion in World War II. They launched attacks by sea, air, and land. Thousands and thousands of troops must have been involved in this war, which cost both military and civilian lives. The Indonesian generals were surprised that they encountered fierce resistance from the Fretilin forces.

Indonesia dropped paratroopers in Suai Covalima on 2 February 1976.It has been 48 years this year, so it is hard to remember the first day of the invasion, but those events I saw are still in my head. Here is the reflection of the invasion of Suai Covalima.

Before Indonesia launched a massive attack in December, there had been sporadic fighting between Indonesian troops and the Fretilin's forces at the border. A primary school teacher named Mateus Mota also joined the Fretilin forces, and when he returned from the border, he always told people in Kamanasa how they fought the Indonesians and what sort of gun they used. Also, one night, the Indonesian troops, assisted by some Timorese, managed to attack the capital of Suai Covalima, Debos. They failed to strike Debos, and the Fretilin killed a member of the Indonesian troops. Since then, there were no more attacks until a massive operation in December 1975.

As the invasion approached, the Fretilin government told the population to evacuate into the mountains in November. So, all the villages were empty, but Fretilin forces remained in the city to fight the Indonesian troops. Most of the Kamanasa, Matai, Holbelis, and other residents fled to the hill near the Suai airport.

After the Indonesian military took control of Dili, the Indonesian military launched an attack by sea and air in Suai Covalima. On the eve of the dropping of military parachutists (troops), a naval force bombarded Suai Covalima with various bombs and rockets all night until morning. It was a nightmare! I still remember this atrocity until today. Luckily, no one was injured or killed. They probably wanted to scare Fretilin forces and hoped they would surrender, but they miscalculated and underestimated the Fretilin troops. Although Fretilin only had hundreds of troops with no heavy machine guns, they vigorously resisted the bloody invasion.

After the sea bombing, at about six o'clock in the morning, there were a few military aircraft suddenly flew over the Suai airport and dropped parachutists (troops). They dropped hundreds or even thousands of parachutists. At first, we thought they dropped papers, but as the parachute was getting closer to the ground, you could see a human hanging under the big umbrella. From the nearby hill, we could see that one parachute did not open and fell to the ground in just minutes. Indeed, he died before hitting the ground. They found his body around the airport and probably sent it to Indonesia.

We hid in the mountains for a few weeks. Then, all of a sudden, Indonesian ground troops assisted by UDT supporters marched from Bobonaro to Suai Covalima. They did not pass through where we hid, but we could hear a gunfight nearby. On 7 February 1976, Liurai Suai-Kamanasa, Kalau Berek surrendered to the Indonesian forces. As we heard the news, we, too, came out from hiding and succumbed to Indonesia.

A week after we surrendered, I went to my farm in Wekes-Metan to get some corn. When I got there, I saw hundreds of parachutes fell over my corn; some fell on the palm tree, and some fell into the sea because our farm is only a few hundred metres from the beach. The parachute was massive and equipped with different belts and ropes. An untrained person probably took hours to unfasten those complicated belts. Believe it or not, I cut some of the ropes and belts.

That is what I witnessed on the first day of the Indonesian invasion in Suai Covalima in December 1975.