Four dead in latest Maluku violence
Four dead in latest Maluku violence
JAKARTA (JP): Communal violence in the riot-torn province of
Maluku claimed more lives on Friday when a group of gunmen fired
on a boat loaded with people in waters near the provincial
capital of Ambon.
Antara reported at least four people were killed and seven
others injured in the latest outbreak of brutality, adding to the
death toll of more than 700 since the cycle of revenge first
started in mid-January.
The news agency said one of the casualties was a child and
another was identified as Tuty Poserratu.
Maluku Military chief Brig. Gen. Max Tamaela said the identity
of the assailants remained unknown.
Antara said the gunmen were aboard a boat when they sprayed
the vessel carrying Tuty and her fellow passengers with bullets.
The violence came just one week after President Abdurrahman
Wahid and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri visited Ambon in
an effort to bring peace to the region.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Tidore islands in North Maluku,
Djafar Syah, called on local political leaders not to manipulate
social and religious differences in the area for their own
political agenda.
"It is not fair to fight for political interests by
sacrificing the interests of local people," Djafar was quoted by
Antara as saying on Saturday.
Djafar was referring to clashes between Muslims and Christians
in North Maluku in November which were reportedly triggered by
territorial disputes.
At least 29 people were killed and eight others seriously
injured in the clashes in the North Maluku towns of Soa Siu and
Ternate, some 500 kilometers north of Ambon, early last month.
Police said that some 14 churches and 275 houses, including 27
owned by police officers, were also set on fire in the riot.
The communal clashes in North Maluku first erupted in
predominantly Muslim Soa Siu and then spread to the nearby town
of Ternate.
Ternate is the capital of North Maluku, one of the country's
three newly established provinces.
Police have confiscated at least nine homemade rifles, one
hand grenade, five cartons of ammunition and dozens of sharp
weapons following the sectarian clashes last month.
At the time, thousands of people were evacuated by navy ships
to Bitung in North Sulawesi, while hundreds others were seeking
shelter at local police and military headquarters.
Tens of thousands of people have fled to other provinces as
violence has escalated in the Maluku islands. (byg)