Blast rocks Poso, gunmen at large

Blast rocks Poso, gunmen at large

La Remmy, The Jakarta Post, Palu, Central Sulawesi

A bomb blast rocked Betania village in Poso regency, Central
Sulawesi, as police intensified the hunt for masked gunmen who
killed at least nine people in recent raids in the violence-torn
district.

However, police and residents reported no casualties on
Tuesday after the bombing at around 8 p.m. on Monday. However,
the explosion caused panic among local people who feared further
attacks.

The bomb exploded outside a house in Betania, Poso Pesisir
subdistrict, but it did not damage the building. The blast came
ahead of the arrival of Coordinating Minister for Political and
Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the religiously
divided town.

The target was close to the three villages of Saatu,
Pantangolemba and Pinedapa, where masked attackers killed nine
people, mostly Christians, in simultaneous raids at dawn on
Sunday.

"We were shocked upon hearing the strong blast. We thought it
would be followed by gunfire, so we were prepared to flee for
safety," local resident Lucky S. told The Jakarta Post.

He said local people stood guard in their mountainous village,
even though scores of police officers were deployed there.

Spokesman for the Central Sulawesi Police Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus
Sugianto confirmed on Tuesday the explosion in Betania, saying
the bomb was a "low explosive".

After receiving a report on the incident, the police
immediately sent personnel to provide security and investigate
the case, he said.

Agus said that security conditions were largely improving in
Poso after Sunday's attacks as activities in local government
agencies and public places continued as normal.

Though roads into and out of Poso were tightly guarded by
security forces, the traffic there was quite normal. Vehicular
traffic continued during the night on the trans-Sulawesi highway.

"Classes at all elementary, junior and senior high schools
throughout Poso are running smoothly like previous days," head of
the regency's education office Suardin Ngewa was quoted by Antara
as saying.

However, he admitted that several schools in Poso Pesisir had
fewer students as their parents did not allow them to attend
school for fear of further unrest.

On Tuesday evening, Minister Susilo arrived in the Central
Sulawesi capital of Palu, along with officers from the military
and the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), and held a closed-
door meeting with Governor Aminuddin Ponulele.

Susilo declined to comment after the meeting. He will visit
Poso, some 200 kilometers from Palu, on Wednesday morning to
assess the situation and hold talks with local religious leaders.

Before flying to Palu, he said in Jakarta that outsiders
rather than locals may have perpetrated the renewed attacks.

"Based on our analysis, apart from the local people, there are
other elements from outside behind the attacks. They may have
been living there for quite some time," Susilo said.

But the chief security minister could not identify the
outsiders, who he said were familiar with Poso. It was also too
early to uncover the motive behind the raids.

"Let our intelligence officers continue their investigation
over the next five days to unravel the incident," Susilo added.

Meanwhile, refugees rendered homeless in the two years of
sectarian fighting questioned the police's performance in
providing them with security.

The police always blamed fresh attacks on trained gunmen but
continued to fail to identify and arrest them, they said.

"Why are there more villages attacked? Why can't the police
capture them (attackers). Poso is only a small town, while in the
Bali blasts, they have managed to arrest the bombers. Why?"
refugee Agustina queried.

Another refugee Hengky said the renewed violence forced him
and others to stay at the refugee camps in Poso. "With the latest
incident, I increasingly believe that Poso is not safe yet."

Poso was plagued by two years of religious conflict that began
in 2000 but the violence largely ended in December 2001 with a
government-brokered peace accord.

Earlier on Thursday, three people were killed when a similar
group of gunmen raided Beteleme, a mainly Christian village in
the neighboring regency of Morowali.