East Timorese independence hero Xanana Gusmao is calling on supporters not to be provoked after campaigning for elections this month was marred by violence.

Gusmao's National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction party says 18 of its supporters in Vikeke district were injured over the weekend and two vehicles damaged in an attack by members of rival faction Fretilin.

The May 12 parliamentary election is the second in less than a year for East Timor after the Fretilin-led minority government collapsed in January.

After the alleged attack on Saturday, Gusmao said, "I ask all of you not to respond to provocation from other parties' members."

Jorge Ribeiro, a local official with Gusmao's party, said police and soldiers responding to the attack have not arrested anyone.