E Timorese border crosser shot dead

He said his men had followed the right procedure in taking the action.

"Our men in Mota Masin were on a patrol in a border area when they found Lucas Neno illegally crossing the border. They approached him but he pulled out a machete and tried to attack them," he said.

The security officers then fired a warning shot and asked Lucas to stop his act. "But he didn`t listen and attacked the officers who then shot him," Hutahaen said.

Following the incident which occurred at about 4.30 a.m. local time, Lucas was rushed to an army hospital in Atambua but he died on the way to the hospital at 8.20 a.m. due to hemorrhage.