The swathes of eucalyptus and betel nut palms in the East Timor highlands are little more than overgrown woods, but they have provided thick enough cover for some 150 heavily-armed pro-Indonesian militiamen to infiltrate deep into East Timor from Indonesian-controlled West Timor in the last few weeks.
The militiamen, equipped with Indonesian army weapons and flares, have been able to avoid 1,600 UN peacekeepers from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Nepal and Ireland deployed along the 172 km border and to terrorise remote villages in East Timor.
The commander of the UN peacekeeping force in East Timor, Lieut Gen Boonsrang Niumpradit of Thailand, confirmed that eight to 10 militia groups with five to 25 members each have established themselves well inside the former Portuguese colony, which voted for independence a year ago today.
In an interview with The Irish Times at UN military headquarters in Dili, Gen Niumpradit frankly acknowledged that the blue-beret troops are not aggressively pursuing the militia members, who have killed two peacekeepers in apparently unplanned encounters since early July. "We do not want to exchange lives with those people", he said.
Travelling in the border area and in central East Timor, I came across evidence of panic among villagers at the reappearance of the militias, who were responsible for burning towns and villages and killing over 1,000 people before fleeing to West Timor as a multinational force arrived in September.
Some 1,200 people in Maununo village, a four-hour drive from Dili, are abandoning their homes at night to sleep in caves after encountering militia, according to a local priest. There are also gangs roaming near Same and Ainaro, and one group of 50 is reported to be negotiating with a priest in Alas to resettle in their former homes.
"If we really want to disarm them and get rid of them I think we can do it," Gen Niumprad it said. "But the rules do not allow UN soldiers doing that. We are not in a position to do that. It's just not worth it. We have to use another strategy."
Tracking the militia aggressively could mean UN casualties. "If you follow them, you have to be very careful They circle back and make an ambush." He made a pincer movement with his hands. "They are good at that."
Peacekeepers have adopted a tactic of setting up static blocking positions, the UN commander said. He believed they were trying to avoid contact and re-establish themselves near their home villages, but speculated that the most militant were planning a "protracted war".
One of these blocking positions is "Camp Cuchulainn" in the village of Taroman, near the summit of a 1,790-metre mountain in sight of an Indonesian army (TNI) observation post in West Timor.
It is manned by a 33-strong platoon from the 2nd Battalion, which along with nine support staff makes up Ireland's modest contribution to the 8,000-strong multinational force, and is responsible for 180 sq km of scrub-covered mountains.
The camp is an hour's drive from the devastated town of Suai, along a road that crosses a wide, stony river-bed. No one in the hamlet of thatched huts and bright red flame trees speaks English, and the soldiers use gestures to communicate. While Taroman is peaceful, villagers in Aitun, 8 km away, do not go out at night since militia fired six shots there last week, possibly hunting animals.
The platoon commander, Lieut Ken Cooney of Longford, said that when deployed to help a patrol near the lowland town of Beco two weeks ago, he and Cpl Mick O'Brien and Pte Donal Mitchell in an APC almost drove into an ambush in which a Nepalese soldier was killed by militia using SKS semi-automatic rifles and Mausers.
"Some of the tactics used by the militia are very professional," he said. "They can survive and remain undetected for a long time." Since the incursions, peacekeepers now patrol with a round in the rifle chamber.
Mr Jose Ramos Horta, vice-president of the Committee for Timor Resistance (CNRT), blamed "the three-piece suits in New York" for refusing to enlist the help of Falintil fighters against the militia, saying that "in a month or two they can track down and kill one by one all the militias".
Gen Niumpradit said that greater use of Falintil was under negotiation, perhaps as guides. He also said that the TNI was co-operating with the UN, but at low level Indonesian soldiers were helping the militia.
Lieut Col Martin Dransfield, commanding officer of the New Zealand Battalion which includes the Irish contingent, said in Suai there were three possible reasons for the militia infiltration: they were simply returning home and don't want to face criminal charges; they sought control over part of East Timor; or they wanted to weaken the resolve of the UN forces. "They will not succeed", he said.