Fresh unrest erupts in Ambon<\/p>\n
AMBON, Maluku (JP): Fresh unrest erupted in Suli village,
\nSalahutu district, Ambon, Central Maluku, when hundreds of armed
\nmen from neighboring Tulehu and Tial villages attacked the area
\non Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
But officials and residents gave conflicting accounts of the
\nnumber of fatalities in the incident.<\/p>\n
Police claimed there were only two fatalities, including one
\npolice officer, while local residents said they saw 27 bodies of
\nattackers in the area, 19 of whom had been properly buried on the
\nsame day.<\/p>\n
Separately, the Yogyakarta-based Ahlussunah Wal Jamaah Lasykar
\nJihad task force Commander Ayip Syafruddin confirmed on Tuesday
\nthat 27 Muslims, most of them allegedly unarmed civilians, had
\ndied in the incident.<\/p>\n
Ayip told The Jakarta Post from Surakarta in Central Java by
\ntelephone that its Jihad force had attacked Suli village as the
\nvillagers there had provoked their anger by saying that Christian
\nvillagers had opened fire at a passenger ship carrying Muslims.<\/p>\n
"It was an act of self-defense by the Jihad force and local
\nMuslims as we don't want to die without offering any resistance,"
\nhe said, while claiming that the victims had been shot by police.<\/p>\n
Suli residents said the morning attack had razed at least 54
\nhouses in the village, which is situated some 20 kilometers away
\nfrom Ambon.<\/p>\n
The armed attackers, clad in white robes, set up roadblocks on
\nJl. Batumerah before launching the attack prior to the deployment
\nof reinforcements by the security forces in the village.<\/p>\n
A Suli resident, Max de Wana, said the attackers, armed with
\nmortars and homemade bombs, started by burning down two empty
\nhouses before they got involved in a firefight with one company
\nof joint military-police security personnel, backed by local
\nresidents.<\/p>\n
Spokesman for the Ambon-based Maluku Civil Emergency Post John
\nTomasoa confirmed on Tuesday the attack in Suli village and that
\nbarricades had been erected by the attackers.<\/p>\n
"I was informed by the Ambon Military Command that six
\ntruckloads of soldiers were deployed to Suli village and they had
\nto clear the streets of roadblocks," he said.<\/p>\n
Soon after the incident, local residents said they saw dozens
\nof rioters in the Batumerah Tanjung and Galunglung areas, a
\npreliminary indication of a mass mobilization for subsequent
\nattacks.<\/p>\n
Similar mass concentrations were also observed in Galala
\nvillage, in the border zone between the Batumerah and Mardika
\nareas, in Sirimau district, Ambon.<\/p>\n
The escalating tension in Suli has resulted in an increase in
\nthe number of residents leaving the area and seeking shelter in
\nnearby villages over the past few days. (49\/lup)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fresh-unrest-erupts-in-ambon-1447893297",
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