INDONESIAN WAR CONTINUES

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25272, 26 August 1947, Page 7

INDONESIAN WAR CONTINUES

BOTH SIDES REPORT FIGHTING

(Rec. 8 p.m.) BATAVIA, August 25. Fighting on all fronts in Java, Sumatra, and Madura is reported in today’s Dutch Army communique. “Roving bands of the Republican Army and saboteurs were as active as ever,” says the communique. “Netherlands posts and patrols are undergoing constant firing., “Everywhere strong clearing actions were carried out. The heaviest fighting is reported from the Salatiga front, Central Java, at Kamal, on Madura • Island; at Sukabumi, and south of Cheribon in West Java.”

The Bugis airfield, near Malang, at one time seat of the Republican Provisional Parliament, has been occupied by the Dutch, according to a Republican broadcast to-night from Jogjakarta. The Republicans said that the airfield was attacked by a battalion of troops, four tanks, and two aeroplanes from two directions.

Fighting for the Tengkol airfield four miles north of Bugis, is said to be continuing. Numerous other clashes between Republican and Dutch troops are also reported in the Republican daily situation report. Dutch aeroplanes, it says, are incessantly reconnoitring Kediri, the biggest town in East Java remaining in Republican hands. In a broadcast to-night, LieutenantGeneral Urip, the Republican Chief of Staff, urged Indonesians in the occupied areas to continue to defend their freedom.

Flood Damage in Ceylon.— The Colonial Office states that 150 persons are missing or dead because of floods in Ceylon, and it is feared that the number will be considerably exceeded. Millions of rupees’ worth of .damage has been caused, and some aistricts are still isolated.—London, August 22.