DUTCH LOSSES IN INDIES

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25734, 21 February 1949, Page 7

DUTCH LOSSES IN INDIES

INDONESIAN CLAIMS DENIED

REPLY TO REPUBLICAN SPOKESMAN (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 11 p.m.) BAT AVI A, Feb. 20. The Dutch killed in Indonesia numbered slightly more than 300, according to a Dutch Army statement issued in Batavia. The statement referred to allegations by Mr L. N. Palar, chief Indonesian Republican delegate to the United Nations Security Council at Lake Success. Mr Palar had said that the Dutch killed numbered 1500. The Dutch statement said: 'The impression which Mr Palar tries to establish—that there is still a Republican force, led by ‘military governors’ —lacks all foundation. There is no question about any mutiny among Dutch troops in Sumatra, and consequently no truth about the 'execution of 213 Dutch soldiers.’ There is no question of any ‘reprisals’ on the civilian population from the Dutch aide.” The Dutch statement added that there was no censorship in Indonesia, and that press representatives were allowed to travel in the newly occupied territories. According to a New York message, Mr Palar said at Lake Success that the Dutch Army in Indonesia was completely on the defensive as a result of Republican infiltration. Claiming that this was the first true picture of the military situation in Indonesia, Mr Palar said that the Dutch military position was comparable to a series of pockets inside Republican-held territory. “While we permitted the larger cities to fall to the enemy, our army and supplies were kept intact,” he said. “Then we infiltrated behind the Dutch lines and set up areas of resistance.” He said that the Dutch censorship had kept this information from the United Nations Committee of Good Offices and the Security Council. Mr Palar reaffirmed an earlier report of a mutiny in the Dutch Army in Sumatra, "resulting in the execution of 213 Dutch soldiers.” A report received from the emergency Government in Sumatra stated that the Republican administration was functioning under military governors throughout Java, outside the Dutch-occupied towns. It said that the Republican Army had moved into several former Dutch-occupied districts. Dutch losses were estimated at 1500 casualties. The report, said Mr Palar. claimed that the Dutch military action was now taking the shape of reprisal measures against the civilian population. It stated that 100 civilians were killed by the Dutch w.est of Jogjakarta on January 28 and that 18 of the victims were beheaded. A review of the weeks military operations in Indonesia, issued by the Dutch in Batavia, reported a coMinua; tion of clearing actions against gangs throughout Java. Referring to Central Java, the Dutch review said•‘Actions to wipe out the gangs J«ve started." A revival of gang activity in north-east Sumatra was reported Meanwhile, news reached Batayta to-day of a guerrilla attack on two tobacco estates near Medan, m ooith Sumata, last night. Three Dutch planters were killed and four wounded.