20 more dead bodies found, Maluku death toll over 50

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)