House-to-house weapons search begins in Poso

House-to-house weapons search begins in Poso

Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Palu, Central Sulawesi

Local police conducted a house-to-house search for guns and other
weapons on Tuesday after a renewed attack that injured seven
Christians three days ago in Poso regency, Central Sulawesi.

The search is focused on finding the automatic and homemade
firearms that were used by the unidentified gunmen who launched
the Easter weekend attack on Saturday in Kilo village, Poso
Pesisir subdistrict.

Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Taufik Ridha said the
search started at around 8 a.m. simultaneously across the
religiously divided town and involved 200 officers from the
police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) unit.

The search had uncovered no weapons, ammunition, bombs nor
other weaponry by 12:30 p.m.

"We have yet to locate any civilians who are storing these
weapons in their homes," Taufik said.

He said the police persuaded civilians to join in the search.

The house-to-house search is to continue for the next two
weeks. "It's routine procedure for a Poso Police operation,"
Taufik said.

The police had said earlier that they had identified the
weapons used by Saturday's attackers as M-16 rifles from the
5.56-millimeter bullet casings recovered from the scene of the
attack.

The search came after more than 300 reinforcement Brimob
officers arrived on Monday after the recent attack.

Two weeks ago, 100 Brimob officers were flown in from Jakarta
after a clergyman was shot dead and a woman lecturer was wounded
by gunmen here. In an earlier attack, a Christian man was shot in
front of his wife.

In the worst bloodshed last year, gunmen killed 10 people in
attacks on predominantly Christian villages in October.

Saturday's shooting at the Tabernacle Church in Kilo rekindled
fears of a return of sectarian conflict in the religiously mixed
town.

Shortly after the attack, residents of the mainly Christian
town of Tentena gathered en masse seeking to avenge the victims
of the incident and checked every vehicle passing through the
town. Dozens of police arrived soon to keep the situation under
control.

None of the unidentified attackers, dressed from head to toe
in black combat uniforms, were captured despite the new Brimob
reinforcements.

Meanwhile, four-year-old Sela Matoneng and Devi Gorigi, 29,
who were among those wounded in the church shooting, will soon go
into surgery at Poso General Hospital.

Dr. Mappicarang, the head surgeon, said the two had to be
operated on in order to prevent paralysis from their injuries.

At least 2,000 people have been killed in the two-year
sectarian conflict in Poso that began in late 1999.

In December 2001, the fighting ended with a government-
brokered peace deal that was signed by local Muslim and Christian
leaders, but sporadic attacks continued into 2003.