Poso tense as six killed in Christian village<\/p>\n
La Remy and Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Palu\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Tensions engulfed the violence-torn town of Poso in Central
\nSulawesi on Tuesday after at least six people were killed and
\nhundreds of houses and two churches set ablaze in fresh attacks
\non three Christian villages, just hours after a second round of
\npeace talks ended.<\/p>\n
It clearly proves that the two-day meeting of Muslim and
\nChristian delegates, which ended on Monday to seek peace in Poso,
\nwas eminently ineffective to quell the violence.<\/p>\n
The road to long-lasting peace there appears to have gotten
\nlonger as armed assailants, believed to being carrying automatic
\nguns, roam the area with impunity, and security authorities claim
\nto know nothing of their identity or whereabouts.<\/p>\n
Following the latest violence, many shops there closed and
\nlocal government officials chose to stay at home.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of heavily armed police and troops were deployed to
\nthe three attacked villages of Sepe, Silanca and Batu Gencu in
\nLage subdistrict after reports of the attacks.<\/p>\n
The villages, also home to some 1,000 refugees from other
\nareas in Poso, are located around 12 kilometers east of the town.<\/p>\n
Security authorities in Poso warned locals against being
\nprovoked by irresponsible people as residents in Kanyamanya and
\nLawanga villages were on guard outside their houses to prevent
\npossible attacks.<\/p>\n
Five of those killed in Tuesday's violence were identified as
\nY. Ombitaka, 60, Eipius Montorutu, 24, Ndolu Sulelino, 31, Sena
\nKangea, 32 and Efrata Lagani, 35. All were killed by gunshot
\nwounds.<\/p>\n
At least two other persons were seriously wounded in the
\nincidents.<\/p>\n
Another person, named as Cikia from Malei village also in
\nLage, was found dead with gunshot wounds on Tuesday and another
\nman, Dolelia from the same village, was declared missing and was
\nfeared dead.<\/p>\n
Local church officials and security officers said the
\nattackers were an armed group of unidentified people, who stormed
\nSepe, Silanca and Batu Gencu early on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Noldy Tacoh, a secretary with the Crisis Center belonging to
\nthe Central Sulawesi church, however, blamed the attack on police
\nMobile Brigade troops and said two churches were also burned in
\nSilanca.<\/p>\n
He said a group of 17 Brimob personnel were responsible for
\nthe attack on Batu Gencu.<\/p>\n
The police stormed the village through the neighboring village
\nof Toyado to seek their fellow Brimob member, Pvt. Andi Amir, who
\nwas reportedly abducted by local residents, Noldy added.<\/p>\n
Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Zainal Abidin Ishak,
\nwho visited Poso, denied that his personnel were involved in the
\nattack.<\/p>\n
Yet, he confirmed a number of Brimob members went through
\nToyado to search for Amir, who had not been seen since Sunday.
\nApparently, they were unable to locate the missing private.<\/p>\n
Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Sugianto, spokesman for the provincial
\npolice, said Batu Gencu was attacked by gunmen after local
\nvillagers rejected a deployment of security forces there.<\/p>\n
\"As of late Tuesday evening, villagers in Batu Gencu were
\nrefusing to allow the deployment of security personnel and were
\nblocking all roads leading to the village. To avoid a clash with
\nthese residents, they were pulled back to Poso,\" he told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Zainal admitted that the police could not yet identify the
\ngunmen who launched the attacks.<\/p>\n
He said around 3,100 reinforcement personnel from police and
\nmilitary have been deployed across Poso to help quell the renewed
\nunrest.<\/p>\n
\"But we still want one more battalion of troops and two
\ncompanies of police stationed here,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Both Muslim and Christian delegations, who concluded the
\nsecond round of peace talks on Monday, vowed to work together
\nalong with police and military forces to help restore peace.<\/p>\n
The talks, held in the provincial capital of Palu, also agreed
\nto declare those involved in violence as their \"common enemies\".<\/p>\n
However, they failed to identify or reveal the masterminds or
\nperpetrators behind the spate of recent attacks, mostly launched
\nagainst Christians, to yield progressive measures to stop the
\nviolence.<\/p>\n
The delegates had convened their first round of peace talks
\nlast December in the South Sulawesi hill resort of Malino, which
\nappeared to be effective for a few months to stop the sectarian
\nfighting.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, CNN reported on Tuesday that an Indonesian
\nintelligence source had confirmed the presence of an al-Qaeda-
\nlinked training camp in Sulawesi.<\/p>",
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