Mahidi

The Mahidi () was a militia in East Timor loyal to Indonesia. Its origin is traced back to groups who lost lands and power for fighting the Portuguese and those who collaborated with the Japanese during World War II. The militia was founded in December 1998 and its operations were centered around the Cassa area in the southern Ainaro district. The location is strategic since it is at the crossroads between Manufahi, Ainaro, and Cova Lima districts. Mahidi participated in the 1999 East Timorese crisis, and the group was one of the most violent of the armed forces during the crisis. They were linked to the Suai Church massacre which led to around 200 deaths as well as other mass killings.

== History == The head of the militia was Câncio Lopes de Carvalho. In December 1998, on behalf of the Kopassus, he revitalised a pro-integration youth movement that he had led in the early 1990s, and renamed it Mahidi. On 1 January 1999, the militia was ceremonially sworn in in the presence of the heads of the Indonesian police and military in Ainaro. Some members are said to have been pressed into the militia. Carvalho's brother Nemecio (also Remecio or Remesio) held the post of intelligence officer in the militia. The militia was formed as a result of the increasingly militant mood of independence supporters in the district of Ainaro. Some houses had gone up in flames. In April 1999, Mahidi had 1,000 to 2,000 members and around 500 firearms. Carvalho told the BBC in an interview that he had received an automatic weapon from the military command in Ainaro.