KUPANG ~ Ten people were injured in a clash between police and villagers armed with arrows, machetes and rocks on eastern Alor island on Monday, police said.

Police fired on the villagers after being attacked when they tried to break up a clash between groups supporting rival political parties, a local policeman who declined to be identified said.

“The police were trying to break up two groups of men who were quarrelling and attacking each other but ended up being attacked themselves,” he said.

“The police opened fire and six men were shot and taken to hospital for treatment. They are in critical condition,” he said, adding that four police were also injured.

Sixteen men have been arrested for their part in the disturbance.

“The situation here is still tense. The market has been closed from morning and people have stopped their normal daily activities,” local member of parliament John Blegur said.

The country carried out largely peaceful national elections on Thursday last week, the third such polls since president Suharto’s fall in 1998.