On 23 May Reinado's rebel group opened fire on F-FDTL and PNTL personnel in the Fatu Ahi area.
From 2009 the F-FDTL established platoon-sized outposts to support the PNTL border police in the Bobonaro and Covalima border districts, and it has increasingly been deployed to undertake internal security tasks.
In practice the responsibilities of the F-FDTL and PNTL were not clearly delineated, and this led to conflict between the two organisations.
An assessment of East Timor's security forces published by the Centre for International Governance Innovation in 2010 stated that "F-FDTL weapons management and control systems, while superior to that of PNTL, are underdeveloped".
It also has an internal security role, which overlaps with that of the Policia Nacional de Timor Leste (PNTL).
The council is chaired by the president and includes the prime minister, the defence, justice, interior and foreign affairs ministers, the heads of the F-FDTL and PNTL a national state security officer and three representatives from the national parliament.
As at early 2010 the Ministry of Defence and Security was organised into elements responsible for defence (including the F-FDTL) and security (including the PNTL), each headed by their own secretary of state.
