Communal clash in Lampung kills one and injures dozens

Communal clash in Lampung kills one and injures dozens

Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung

A communal clash on Wednesday in Merakbatin village, Lampung
province, left one person dead and dozens of others injured. The
clash also damaged a house belonging to a local resident and a
mosque in the village, which is located some 40 kilometers north
of Bandarlampung, the capital of Lampung province.

The dead victim was named as Suhaimi, 45, an employee of the
State Plantation Company VII. He died of slash wounds on
Wednesday evening after being treated for a few hours at the
Abdoel Moeloek General Hospital in Bandarlampung.

Police personnel have sealed off the village late on Wednesday
evening, but the situation remained tense on Thursday with
residents still standing guard in front of their homes.

Police have detained 68 members of the Indonesia Institute for
Islamic Propagation (LDII), a hard-line Muslim organization,
dozens of motorcycles, long and short machetes, sickles, bamboo
spears and a number of wooden clubs.

The clash was prompted by the construction of a mosque by
members of the LDII, whom the local villagers oppose.

Defying opposition from the locals, the LDII members pressed
ahead with the construction of their mosque.

A Banjarejo resident, Sukron, 35, said that the villagers, who
felt that the LDII was a closed and exclusive movement, were
enraged by the move, especially as the village already had a
mosque.

Dozens of angry villagers carrying sharp weapons approached
the LDII mosque, where a large group of LDII members were
working, at noon on Wednesday and attacked them.

The LDII members responded to the attack by throwing bricks
and attacking their foes with the timber beams they were using to
build the mosque.

South Lampung Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Budi Susanto said
that the police had arrested dozens of the belligerents following
the clash. Police personnel then summoned the representatives of
the opposing sides so that the police could help them negotiate
an understanding. Both sides finally consented to stop the
violence and signed a peace agreement in which the LDII promised
to temporarily stop the construction work on the mosque. The
incident claimed the life of local resident Suhaimi and injured
dozens of people from both sides.

However, at about 5:50 p.m. on the same day, another clash
broke out at the mosque when local residents heard the news of
Suhaimi's death and went on a rampage, damaging the uncompleted
mosque and the home of an LDII member, Kosim.

There are approximately 60 families belonging to the LDII, or
a total of about 250 members (10 percent of Merakbatin's
populace) in the village, said Sanusi, a member of the LDII.