JP/4/MAMASA

JP/4/MAMASA

Fresh violence erupts in Mamasa, one killed

Andi Hajramurni and Yuli Tri Suwarni
The Jakarta Post/Makassar/Bandung

After two days of relative calm, violence broke out again in
Aralle district, Mamasa regency, killing one man and injuring
another.

The incident occurred at 10 a.m when some 300 Christians
supporting the split of Polewali Mamasa regency into two
regencies attacked those who opposed the split in the mountainous
Aralleana subdistrict, Aralle district, Mamasa regency, West
Sulawesi province.

The attack was an apparent retaliation after scores of
Christian houses and a church was burned down at dawn on Saturday
in Aralle district.

Two residents opposing the split, Suharman and Usman,
sustained severe stab wounds, according to chief of South
Sulawesi Police Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf, who also oversees the
newly established West Sulawesi province. Suharman died later at
a local hospital.

The death of Suharman brought the total victims in the spate
of violence that began on Saturday to three.

Saleh said that police personnel were immediately dispatched
to Aralle, some 400 kilometers from the South Sulawesi capital of
Makassar, to defuse the situation.

Upon arriving in the scene, hundreds of personnel with the
elite police unit the Mobile Brigade quickly dispersed the
attackers. Outnumbered and ill-equipped, the attackers fled to
the jungle.

In order to prevent further fatalities, the police are
focusing on guarding several housing complexes whose residents
oppose the split of Polewali Mamasa into two regencies: Polewali
Mamasa and Mamasa regencies, said Saleh.

The two-star general explained that the police were also
tracking down 12 people suspected of being responsible for the
renewed conflict in Mamasa regency.

Currently, almost 400 soldiers and police personnel are
stationed in Aralle district to keep the security situation in
check in the area.

The fresh violence on Monday was the third after a law was
passed two 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 term 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.

After prolonged protests, violence broke out in September last
year, killing three. Violence broke out again on Saturday,
killing two.