Balibo Five

The five Australia-based newsmen died during the invasion of the border town of Balibo by the Indonesian army, but the details of precisely how or why they died are still not publicly known. Balibo was then in Portuguese Timor, attacked from nearby Indonesian West Timor as Indonesia began its occupation of the former Portuguese colony. Official reports said the newsmen were killed by crossfire as they attempted to film an Indonesian attack on the town on October 16, 1975, the first full day of the occupation operation. The deaths of the Balibo Five, as they became known, and allegations of murder became a lingering sore point in Australia-Indonesian relations during Indonesia's occupation of East Timor.