Dili, East Timor ? Women and children ran screaming from their homes as renegade militias lit dozens of houses ablaze today in East Timor’s capital, even as foreign troops worked to stem violence that threatens to split the tiny nation.

Civilian militias armed with machetes and spears roamed the neighborhood in southern Dili, throwing rocks through the windows of the small, tin-roofed houses and setting them on fire.

In a sign of the depth of hatred dividing the Indian Ocean nation, a mob torched the house of a government minister, killing five children and an adult whose charred bodies were found Friday.

The bloodshed that started after the March firing of 600 disgruntled soldiers – nearly half the 1,400-member army – is the most serious crisis East Timor has faced since it broke from Indonesian rule in 1999.