More bodies found in Central Maluku village<\/p>\n
AMBON, Maluku (JP): The death toll from the weekend violence
\nin Uraur village, Kairatu district, Central Maluku has increased
\nwith the discovery of seven bodies, residents said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Local residents found the bodies garbed in the white long-
\nsleeved robes commonly worn by members of the Muslim group Laskar
\nJihad.<\/p>\n
"We also found three more people who were seriously injured,"
\na resident who requested anonymity said, adding that a police
\nofficer was injured when he tried to protect the Kairatu district
\nhead from armed attackers.<\/p>\n
Saturday's attack resulted in the death of one Uraur resident
\nand the wounding of another. The witness said 146 houses were
\nburned during the incident.<\/p>\n
Civil Emergency Post spokesman John Tomasowa said on Monday
\nthat one platoon of soldiers had been dispatched to Kairatu
\ndistrict to restore order.<\/p>\n
"Forty-five other soldiers were sent from the Central Maluku
\nMilitary District Command to the demarcation zones to prevent the
\narmed attackers from reaching other nearby villages," he said.<\/p>\n
Tomasowa added that he had received reports that similar
\nviolence had erupted in the neighboring village of Waimital, some
\nthree kilometers away from Uraur.<\/p>\n
Waimital used to host transmigrant settlers until it was taken
\nover by Laskar Jihad forces as their base.<\/p>\n
The attacks had encouraged residents of the neighboring
\nvillages of Kairatu and Kamariang to join forces in resisting the
\nattackers, whom the villagers believed were linked to Laskar
\nJihad.<\/p>\n
In another violent incident in Utha village on Kesui island,
\nCentral Maluku on Sunday, a church and three houses were
\ndestroyed, while three residents were wounded.<\/p>\n
Separately, some 250 residents of Wayame village in Teluk
\nAmbon Baguala district abandoned their homes and took shelter in
\nthe Benteng area of Nusaniwe district, following shooting and
\nbomb attacks that razed two houses on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n
Tomasowa said all the residents had been accommodated at
\nNehemia church in Benteng, adding that the province's Natural
\nDisaster Coordinating Office had sent food supplies to the area.<\/p>\n
The military were seen escorting local residents taking
\nshelter in the nearby forest.<\/p>\n
Tomasowa also disclosed that fresh attacks broke out on Monday
\nmorning in the Mardika, Batumerah and Karang Panjang areas of
\nSirimau district in Ambon.<\/p>\n
"A group of people gathered in the Batumerah area and later
\nlaunched bomb attacks. Military personnel in a nearby security
\npost had to fire warning shots to disperse the attackers," he
\nsaid. No fatalities were reported in this latest incident.
\n(49\/lup)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/more-bodies-found-in-central-maluku-village-1447893297",
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