Ambon paralyzed again with bombs, rumors<\/p>\n
AMBON, Maluku (JP): Ambon capital of Maluku was paralyzed on
\nFriday in the wake of the commemoration of start of the bloody
\nconflicts that have gripped the Malukus for the last two years.<\/p>\n
The situation was quiet in the morning, but about noon local
\ntime, an explosion rocked the area of Pohon Pule and Jalan Baru,
\nclose to Silo Church in downtown Ambon, which was gutted on Dec.
\n26, 1999.<\/p>\n
Pohon Pule and Jalan Baru demarcates the border of Christian
\nand Muslim areas.<\/p>\n
No fatalities were reported in the incident, but terrified
\nresidents opted to stay home and roads were deserted as rumors of
\nrenewed rioting circulated across Ambon the past few days.<\/p>\n
\"We urge people to stay calm and not to engage in any
\nactivities that can instigate the gathering of crowds,\" Pattimura
\nMilitary Commander Brig. Gen. I Made Yasa said on Thursday night.<\/p>\n
Muslims were performing Friday prayer at the Al Fatah Grand
\nMosque at noon, while Christians were gathering at Maranatha
\nChurch in Sirimau district across from the gubernatorial office
\nfor afternoon mass in commemoration of the two years of violence.<\/p>\n
Several other incidents recorded on Thursday left two people
\nseverely wounded from gunshot wounds.<\/p>\n
Gunmen in a speed boat from the Yos Sudarso port at Waehaong
\narea sprayed bullets at a passing vessel, Rafi, on the way from
\nGalala port to Benteng.<\/p>\n
The shooting, which took place around 5 p.m. Thursday, wounded
\na crewman on the Rafi named Yongki Sahetapi, 25. The boat sought
\nrefuge at a floating marine post and the passengers transported
\nsafely to Benteng port.<\/p>\n
At about 10 a.m. on Thursday in Suli village of Salahua
\ndistrict, Ambon island, a local named Paulus Suitela, 50, was
\nshot in the forehead while walking to his plantation job.<\/p>\n
Both victims were treated at the Halong Naval Hospital, about
\nseven kilometers east of Ambon.<\/p>\n
On Friday, school and business activities were halted as most
\npeople went home early.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of commuters, however, were stranded in ports such as
\nin the Nusaniwe port, the Galala ferry port in Sirimau district
\nand the Yos Sudarso port, because water transportation operators
\nhalted their activities at 10 a.m.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, security forces tightly guarded conflict-prone
\nareas in Tanah Lapang Kecil, Batu Gantung, Pohon Pule, Trikora,
\nDiponegoro, AY Patti, Karang Panjang and Ahuru, as well as Gala
\nand Suli, and the border of Batu Merah-Mardika districts.<\/p>\n
The bitter and bloody conflicts between two religious camps
\nwere triggered by a minor criminal incident at the border of Batu
\nMerah and Mardika on Jan. 19, 1999, when a local public minivan
\ndriver got in a fierce dispute with a hoodlum migrant who tried
\nto extort money.<\/p>\n
The fray quickly degenerated into violent communal clashes
\nthat have continued for two years.<\/p>\n
The driver, a local Christian named Yopie Leoharis, and the
\nhoodlum, a Muslim named Nursalim, were both sentenced to three
\nmonths in jail in a trial about four months after the incident.<\/p>\n
Official reports indicate that the two-year sectarian
\nconflicts have claimed no less than 5,000 lives and forced
\nthousands to flee the archipelagic provinces.<\/p>\n
More than half of Ambon's 350,000 residents have fled their
\nhomes due to the continuing violence.<\/p>\n
However, a prominent scholar handling Maluku conflict
\nresolution claimed on Friday that no less than 8,000 people have
\ndied during the two years of violence.<\/p>\n
\"The five-year war in Bosnia left some 10,000 people killed
\nbut in the Malukus, within only two years 8,000 have died and
\n350,000 others have fled,\" sociologist Tamrin Amal Tomagola of
\nthe University of Indonesia said while addressing a special media
\nbriefing on Maluku in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
He said that the number of Lasykar Jihad Muslim warriors in
\nMaluku have decreased from some 6,000 to around 2,000 personnel
\ndue to financial shortages.<\/p>\n
\"The government should have taken further steps against
\nLasykar Jihad. They should realize that the group has slandered
\nthe government. I'm very concerned with the Lasykar Jihad
\ncommanders' preaching on the use of violence,\" Tamrin said as
\nquoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
\"Meanwhile, Southeast Maluku is relatively free from conflicts
\nsince the locals rejected the arrival of outsiders,\" he added.
\n(49\/edt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ambon-paralyzed-again-with-bombs-rumors-1447893297",
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