Military hunts dreaded snipers in restive Ambon

Military hunts dreaded snipers in restive Ambon

M. Azis Tunny and Tiarma Siboro, Ambon/Jakarta

Religious clashes escalated again in Ambon, Maluku on Friday as
arson, gunfire and explosions rocked the battle-scarred city,
injuring at least 19 people and paralyzing the provincial
administration.

In Jakarta, the Indonesian Military (TNI) said it was
deploying more intelligence officers and soldiers in coordination
with police to hunt down snipers blamed for fueling terror among
civilians in Ambon.

Gunfire erupted in the hamlet of Waringin in Batugantung
neighborhood, Nusaniwe subdistrict, following the burning of
houses from 1:15 a.m. to 4:30 a.m.

Most of the homes set ablaze were empty after their owners had
fled when the clashes began on Sunday as a reaction to the
separatist Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM), who were parading
through town to mark the 54th anniversary of the South Maluku
Republic (RMS).

The religiously divided city became increasingly tense after
bomb explosions began going off on Friday.

Seventeen people were rushed to Al-Fatah Hospital with burns
and other wounds caused by the bomb blasts, while two other
victims were taken to Dr. Haulussy Kudamati General Hospital with
gunshot injuries.

In the Jl. Setiabudi area outside the Maluku health insurance
office, residents found a body of a man wrapped in a sack. It was
not clear when the victim was killed.

It was the sixth straight day of fighting in Ambon,
effectively decimating the 2002 peace accord signed by Muslim and
Christian leaders. At least 37 people had been killed in previous
clashes that have raised fears the spice islands could plunge
back into a full-scale Muslim-Christian war as it did in 1999,
resulting in the deaths of at least 6,000 people.

As the provincial administration's activities came to a
grinding halt on Friday, deputy Maluku governor M. Latuconsina
said Muslim civil servants would be allowed to work at the local
industry and trade office on Jl. Sangadji near Yos Sudarso Port,
Ambon.

Christians would be asked to go to work at Maluku police
headquarters building to resume their state duties as Ambon again
had become segregated along religious lines, he added.

However, several schools remained open as did many shops
across the city, but they too were segregated.

Meanwhile, TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin said
top military chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto ordered his personnel
to shoot snipers on sight.

The snipers are apparently equipped with automatic rifles
fabricated by arms companies such as Bandung-based PT Pindad or
others belonging to foreign countries, Sjafrie said without
elaborating further.

He said snipers may have used guns stolen from a police armory
in Tantui on June, 21, 2000, where around 300 of the total 893
weapons and 800,000 bullets were taken in an attack by
unidentified people.

"The TNI is also prepared to guard areas outside Ambon to
prevent more violence from spreading, and has sent reinforcement
troops from the 413rd Infantry Battalion based in East Java along
with four companies of paramilitary Mobile Brigade (Brimob)
police," he added.

Pattimura military chief Maj. Gen. Syarifudin and Maluku
Police chief Brig, Gen. Bambang Sutrisno vowed to take harsh
action against their personnel found to be involved in the
renewed fighting.

Earlier, witnesses were quoted as saying they saw soldiers
involved in the torching of the Nazareth Church.

Bambang said the police would deploy Brimob officers to
isolate the border area between the hamlets of Waringin and Tanah
Lapang Kecil (Talake), which are near Kudamati, a stronghold of
FKM separatists.

At the same time, a military and police force searched the
home of FKM leader Alex Manuputty in Kudamati, Nusaniwe
subdistrict for weapons and activists. Manuputty fled to the
United States late last year.

The military also said it would stop Islamic militant fighters
from traveling to Ambon as they did in the previous conflict.