DILI, Feb 12: Australian troops backed by a warship arrived in East Timor to boost security on Tuesday after rebel attacks on the country’s two top leaders left the president in “extremely serious” condition with gunshot wounds.

The government declared a state of emergency amid fears of more unrest and political turmoil triggered by the assassination attempts on Monday against President Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.

Surgeons operated on Ramos-Horta for three hours overnight to remove bullet fragments and repair his chest wounds, Dr Len Notaros, the general manager of the Royal Darwin Hospital, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

“His condition remains extremely serious but by the same token, stable,” Notaros said. ‘The next few days will be the telling point. I believe he is extremely lucky to be alive.”

Ramos-Horta, who won the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent resistance to the decades-long Indonesian occupation, was shot in the chest and stomach close to his house by rebel soldiers on Monday, officials said.

His guards returned fire, killing wanted rebel leader Alfredo Reinado and one of his men.

Gunmen attacked Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao’s motorcade an hour later. The former guerrilla fighter escaped unhurt.

East Timor is a country of 1 million people that won independence from Indonesia in 2002 after a UN-sponsored ballot. The poor nation has struggled to achieve stability, especially since an outbreak of violence and political turmoil in 2006.—AP