Fresh violence in Mamasa claims four lives

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar

Fresh violence broke out on Sunday in Mamasa regency in West Sulawesi province, leaving four people dead and two others seriously injured. In addition to the fatalities, seven houses were also burned down during the attack.

Two among the four died after being shot by unknown assailants while two others died after a fire razed their homes.

South Sulawesi Police chief Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf said on Tuesday that the incident occurred on Sunday night, when a group of unidentified people attacked Ranu subdistrict, Mamasa regency.

"Upon arriving in the subdistrict, the group attacked residents, vandalized and burned down houses," said the two-star police general, who also oversees the newly established West Sulawesi province.

The residents were taken by surprise and fought back, prompting the attackers to flee, Saleh quoted witnesses as saying.

A short time after the attack, the residents inspected the neighborhood to view the damage, and shortly afterwards, they found the bodies of the four people and two others who were wounded.

Police reinforcements were immediately sent to the area, and as of Tuesday evening, some 230 police personnel were already standing guard in the area.

The police have questioned nine witnesses, and have also identified five people believed to have incited the rampage in the subdistrict. However, Saleh refused to disclose their identity.

"We are tracking them down," he simply said.

The motive behind the attack is still unclear. "Whether the attack was linked to the prolonged conflict over the establishment of the new Mamasa regency administration, is still unclear," said Saleh. Ranu is a subdistrict that opposes the split of Polewali Mamasa into two regencies: Mamasa and Polewali Mamasa regencies.

The fresh violence on Sunday was the fourth bloody incident after a law was passed three years ago, which split Polewali Mamasa into two regencies.

The split drew strong protests from the predominantly Muslim districts of Aralle, Tabulahan and Mambi, who feared that they would be a minority in the new predominantly Christian regency of Mamasa.

Besides the issue of religion, the residents in the three districts also objected to the split on the grounds that the three districts were much closer to Polewali Mamasa regency. They complained that it would be efficient in terms of bureaucracy and the economy if the three districts remained under the territory of Polewali Mamasa regency.

But, the protest fell on deaf ears after the central government threw its weight behind the passing of the law that split Polewali Mamasa into two.

Mamasa regency is now part of West Sulawesi province, which recently split from South Sulawesi. West Sulawesi has five regencies: Polewali Mamasa, Mamasa, Majene, Mamuju and North Mamuju.