20 more dead bodies found, Maluku death toll over 50

JAKARTA (JP): Twenty bodies were found in the Southeast Maluku village of Larat on Monday, taking the death toll from days of communal clashes in the area to more than 50.

Antara quoted witnesses as saying the charred bodies were found in the ruins of homes set on fire during clashes between Muslims and Christians in Larat village on Larat island on Friday and Saturday.

The violence in Larat followed several days of clashes in the Southeast Maluku capital of Tual, some 200 kilometers to the northeast.

On Friday, violence also spread to Elat on Kei Besar island, some 30 kilometers east of Tual.

The news agency reported on Sunday that at least 10 more people were killed in Larat on Friday and Saturday and about 100 houses were set on fire during the violence.

It quoted local military chief Lt. Col. Ery Susanto as saying that the latest bodies to be found had been buried.

Ery was also quoted as saying that the situation in Kei Besar was under control on Monday.

Meanwhile, deputy head of the district task force for refugees First Lt. Ganda Rusmana was quoted as saying that the violence had forced at least 18,435 people to seek refuge in 12 makeshift shelters in Tual, including at the Dumatubun air base, naval base, police and military installations.

He also said refugees faced food shortages as most shops in Tual remained closed and the few that had reopened had run out of stock.

The news agency said the Ministry of Social Services had sent 13.5 metric tons of rice to the area, but the steadily growing number of refugees had rendered it insufficient.

It also said that at least 200 children taking shelter at the Dumatubun air base had diarrhea and fevers.

Facilities in the makeshift shelters are also insufficient to accommodate the large number of refugees and this worsens the situation, the news agency said.

It added that at least 1,353 people, mostly government officials, their families and prostitutes, fled Tual on Sunday to either the provincial capital of Ambon, Java or Sulawesi.

Local authorities earlier said that at least one company of troops had been rushed to Southeast Maluku from Ambon last week to reinforce local security personnel.

The clashes first erupted before dawn in Tual last Wednesday when predominantly Christian Taar villagers allegedly attacked a neighboring Muslim community in Wearhir village.

The reason for the outbreak of violence remains unclear, but locals said the unrest was sparked after the discovery of a piece of graffiti defaming Islam in Wearhir on Sunday.

Residents blamed the violence on instigators who fled violence in Ambon earlier in the month.

Since mid-January, clashes between Muslims and Christians in Ambon and on several other islands in Maluku province have left almost 250 people dead and have caused wide-spread destruction.

Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto sent 3,000 reinforcement troops and a special military task force of 19 locally born officers to the province last month to quell months of violence between Muslims and Christians.

In the South Sulawesi capital of Ujungpandang on Monday, students from Southeast Maluku demanded the special military team end the violence and prevent it from spreading to other areas in Maluku. (byg/27)