Over 1,000 police and soldiers were sent on Friday on the streets of East Timor’s capital, Dili, in an attempt to find the rebels guilty in the assassination attempts on the country's president and prime minister.

President Jose Ramos-Horta, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was attacked on February 11 by rebel soldiers, injuring him in a gunfight.

East Timor army commander Brig. Gen. Matan Ruak said: “Wherever they are hiding, in rat holes or under stones, we will chase them. Our operations will also be against their supporters,'' the Associated Press reports.

Ramos Horta was shot close to his home and afterwards a rebel was shot by his guards.

An hour later Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao was attacked by rebels, but he managed to escape unhurt.

Gusmao gave order for the military and police forces to join in order to arrest the followers of rebel leader Alfredo Reinado.

Ramos-Horta is now in a hospital nearby Australia recovering from bullet injuries he suffered to his upper body.

After the police officers and soldiers paraded the streets of the capital they went in the nearby hills to search for the rebels.

Military chief Taur Matan Ruak said: "We promise we won't betray the confidence given to us. We promise we will restore peace and stability,” Reuters informs.

Seventeen arrest warrants have been issued for the suspects in the attacks. Among those people is Gastao Salsinha, commander of the rebel soldiers after Reinado’s death.

Also on Friday East Timor's Parliament approved the extension of the emergency rule proposed by Gusmao for 30 days. The last emergency state was declared after the attacks and was to expire on Saturday.

Some of the residents say that the emergency rule is hampering their living.

Asia’s youngest nation gained its independence from Indonesia in 2002 and ever since then is living in a political turmoil and violence. Almost 1 million people in East Timor live in poverty.