Four people killed in continuing Ambon violence

JAKARTA (JP): Tensions again escalated in the riot-torn Maluku capital of Ambon on Monday when at least four people were killed in a surprise attack by a police-backed group of people near a mosque in Ahuru village, Antara reported.

The news agency said at least seven more people were injured in the violence. They sustained stab or gunshot wounds after troops opened fire on the crowds.

The report said an unidentified group of people hurled Molotov cocktails at buildings in the village at about 6 a.m. Monday, setting fire to at least 15 homes. A fire engine escorted by troops failed to reach the site because streets leading to it were too narrow for the vehicle to pass through.

Reuters, however, said at least 10 people were killed in the violence. It said six people were tortured to death after clashes with machetes and spears broke out late on Sunday afternoon, quoting National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Togar Sianipar on Monday.

It said another four were killed as security forces opened fire near a mosque early on Monday. However, the agency said both incidents occurred in or near the city's Batu Merah district, some 10 km east of the city center.

The fresh violence broke out only a day after a new peace accord was signed between Muslim and Christian village leaders on Sunday evening.

Thamrin Elly, a staffer at the downtown Al Fatah Mosque, told The Jakarta Post by phone that at least nine people were killed in Ahuru on Monday.

"The nine killed include a family of five," Thamrin said.

He said that four of them died from gunshot wounds.

The military and civilian authorities, however, were not available to confirm the reports on Monday.

Sgt. Maj. Angki, a staffer at the Bhayangkara Hospital, told the Post from Ambon that at least three people injured in the clashes were admitted to his hospital on Monday.

"The left hand of one of the victims, Bertus Latumeten, was chopped off. His attackers took the hand with them," Angki said, adding the two other victims were David Kastaya and Peter Malawau.

"David has a stab wound on his chest while Peter has a slash wound on his back," Angki said.

Separate clash

A staffer at the Protestant Maluku Church Hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said eight more people, including one from a separate clash near the Al Fatah Mosque, were taken to the hospital on Monday.

"They have stab wounds, arrow and gunshot wounds. Three of them are still being treated here," he said.

Angel, a staffer on the emergency ward of the Haulusi General Hospital in Ambon, said one more person injured in the clashes near the mosque was also taken to the hospital on Monday. He said that Adrian Abbas, 21, had a slash wound on his face.

At least 16 people have been confirmed killed in the renewed Muslim-Christian clashes which broke out on Feb. 23 in downtown Batu Merah. Many of the Muslims in Maluku are migrants from Southeast and South Sulawesi provinces.

Meanwhile, Buton Regent Saidoe was quoted by Antara as saying on Monday in the Southeast Sulawesi city that more than 15,000 migrants who hailed from the province have fled the riot-torn city.

He said about 263 people are still taking refuge in a number of orphanages in Buton as they do not have anywhere else to go.

The news agency also said thousands of schoolchildren and hundreds of teachers and civil servants have had to be transferred to a number of schools and government offices on the island.

Pierre Gerber, the deputy head of the Jakarta office of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told the Post on Monday that an ICRC team had been sent to Ambon on Sunday.

He said that "the team is only on a preliminary mission and will make a short visit in order to assess refugee health conditions in the riot-torn city."

The authorities said more than 150 people have been killed and more than 350 others injured since the Muslim-Christian clashes erupted in the province in mid-January.

They added that about 3,360 houses have been set on fire in the weeks of violence bringing about Rp 500 billion in material losses. (byg)