Death toll in Banda, Hatta violence increases to six

AMBON, Maluku (JP): The Banda Islands in Central Maluku were reportedly calm on Thursday after being hit by violent communal clashes on Tuesday.

But Maluku Police chief Col. Bugis M. Saman said the number of casualties had risen to six from the four reported earlier.

The first casualty was identified as Dade Umar, 27, of Hatta Island.

The other five -- including two girls, 8 and 14 -- were members of the Van de Brook family from the main island of Bandaneira's Walang village (not Walang island as earlier reported), the police said.

All were killed in two separate clashes that first started in Hatta, then erupted in Neira, the predominantly Muslim capital town of the Banda group.

Several people were also injured in the clashes and a number of houses were set on fire, Bugis said.

Neira is about 300 kilometers to the southeast of here. Hatta Island is an hour away by motorboat.

Maluku Police spokesman Maj. Philip Jekriel said more than 100 people were still taking refuge in the Neira police station.

He also said that about 350 Hatta residents would be moved for their protection to Central Maluku's capital of Masohi, on Seram Island.

It was still unclear how the violence developed on Tuesday on the two islands.

However, Bugis said: "The violence in Banda was the 'excess' from the riots in Ambon."

He was referring to the clashes of Muslim and Christian communities in the provincial capital which erupted on the first day of the Idul Fitri Islamic holiday in mid-January. At least 200 deaths resulted from the senseless orgy of killing perpetrated by both sides.

Neira residents told The Jakarta Post by phone on Wednesday the clashes there erupted following an attack on a Muslim farmer on Hatta on Tuesday morning.

"The clashes then spread to other nearby islands including Neira later in the day," Abdullah, a telephone operator working for state-owned PT Telkom, said.

Bugis said at least 80 houses had been set on fire or damaged in the riots in Neira and Hatta.

He said the police arrested about 40 people on Bandaneira on Wednesday and Thursday for allegedly trying to incite violence.

No details were given.

Bugis said the security authority had the situation under control as about 100 military and police personnel from Ambon arrived in the area on Wednesday.

Governor Saleh Latuconsina and Maluku Military Commander Col. Karel Ralahalu also flew to Tual on Thursday morning to calm down the residents, Bugis said.

The Southeast Maluku capital of Tual, about 500 kilometers southeast of here, was also shaken by communal clashes in late March. Bugis said at least 130 people were killed in the violence there.

"We have hundreds of islands in Maluku province and we need some time to reach those islands if riots break out there. Moreover, it is not easy to get the transportation to send troops to those islands," Bugis said.

He said at least one Navy ship and a military helicopter had been stationed in Tual to support two battalions of reinforcement troops that arrived last week.

Meanwhile in Jakarta on Thursday, the Australian Embassy announced that its government had provided A$266,000 (about US$167,000) in humanitarian assistance to the 30,000 displaced people in Ambon and other Maluku islands.

The assistance would be provided through international NGO Action against Hunger in coordination with provincial crisis centers and the Indonesian Red Cross, the embassy said. (byg)