Arms seized in S. Sulawesi raid<\/p>\n
SABBANG, South Sulawesi (JP): Hundreds of Molotov cocktails,
\n29 makeshift cannons and ammunition were among weapons seized in
\na police raid on arms here.<\/p>\n
Police said they had also seized 1,448 home-made guns from
\nvillagers involved in communal clashes in Sabbang district, Luwu
\nregency, here last month in which at least six were killed.<\/p>\n
Police have recorded a total of 26 deaths and five injured
\npolice officers since violence between warring villagers broke
\nout in August last year.<\/p>\n
But Pare-Pare police chief Col. Mardjito, who is in command of
\nthe weapons seizure operation, said on Friday that almost all
\n5,000 villagers here at least have one of these home-made guns
\nknown as paporo.<\/p>\n
"We've been persuasive in asking them to hand over their
\nguns," Mardjito told The Jakarta Post here. A number of villagers
\nhad handed over weapons themselves to police, he said.<\/p>\n
Around 30 police, backed by the Army, are involved in the
\noperation with the code name ZB 99. They are authorized to soot
\nanyone resisting orders.<\/p>\n
Tension among villagers remained high on Friday.<\/p>\n
Luwu is 470 kilometers north of the provincial capital of
\nUjungpandang.<\/p>\n
Violence between villagers has been colored by inter-ethnic
\nanimosity involving locals and migrants from Java, Bali and Tana
\nToraja in South Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
As of Friday, many villagers had still not returned home from
\nPalopo, where they were seeking shelter.<\/p>\n
Palembangan, 36, a villager from Kampung Baru village here,
\nwas among the few who returned. Some of his friends who owned a
\ncacao plantation in an "enemy" village did not dare harvest
\ncrops. Most who returned were natives of Palopo.<\/p>\n
Mardjito said police have arrested 40 people. (27)<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/arms-seized-in-s-sulawesi-raid-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }